Have you wondered: WHAT THE HECK ARE ALL THESE CYBER ATTACKS, ANYWAY?
Melissa Murphy, Senior Vice President of Risk & Finance at Lasco
You and me both!
As the Senior Vice President of Risk & Finance, I have to admit cyber-attack knowledge isn’t really in my skill set. But I do know a guy (well, a full I.T. department here at Lasco!) who gave me some insight.
Like what? Well…
Ransomware
None of us thought 20 years ago that people would be kidnapping our networks so they could get to the confidential data on it and then not give it back unless we pay some ridiculous amount of money. But that is what the hackers (i.e. bad guys) are doing today.
But, how are they kidnapping a network?
It’s the “…ings.”
The “…ings”? What on earth does that mean?
The Smishing, Phishing, Vishing – You know: the “…ings.” These are some of the ways hackers are getting the information they need to get into your network. They’re sending emails that your staff are opening. They’re calling on the phone and asking questions that your staff are giving the answer to. Or by texting, or by searching on your organization’s website, or by checking out your social media, or…you get the picture.
So now they’re in your network and they put a net around all your data and encrypt it, basically blocking your ability to get to it. And then you get the dreaded email asking for money. If you pay the money, theoretically, they’re supposed to give you the password to remove the net around your data. But that’s no certainty!
What else can bad guys do?
Well, there is the good old DDOS attack (Distributed Denial of Service).
This one can be a bugger because they aren’t stealing anything. A bad guy (who could be a 15-year-old kid) is sitting around with all of his buddies one night somewhere in the world, and they decide they are going to do nothing but knock on your organization’s firewall. So much knocking and pounding in fact, that your website is now not working.
Think of it like going to a concert and everyone wants to be in the front row. As soon as the gates open, everyone clogs the entry. Now no one is getting in. This kind of attack prevents anyone from getting into your website, including you and your customers
And of course there is the “0” Day Attack.
Huh…What’s that?
A “0” Day Attack refers to a brand new attack that no one knows about yet, and big companies like Microsoft and other application companies need to come up with a patch fast, and until they do, the timer is going on how long the bad guy is doing his thing.
All pretty scary, annoying, time depleting, reputational risk-at-stake sort of things that can really mess things up. But, collaborating with a partner that specializes in these areas, who can help you with constant vulnerability management, patch management, threat monitoring, and hardening your network can go a long way to avoid ever letting that bad guy have your money. Lasco can be that partner. We’ve spent almost 60 years supporting the success of businesses like yours.
Would you like to know more about how to keep your system safe? Call Lasco at 906-228-9720 or 800-800-6197, or email sales@lascoinc.com or cysec@lascoinc.com.
