Secure yourself against cyber vulnerabilities in the new decade

Cyber insecurity is a big threat to not only companies but humanity as a whole. The dangers associated with it are most likely going to become greater in the foreseeable future.

An eye-opening cyber security survey for 2019, reported a whopping 67% of all crimes in the cyber space as not being reported to authorities. This tantamount to a 2/3 of such crimes.

Juniper research further reported that such crimes accounted for trillions of dollars in losses, amounting to US $2 trillion in 2019! The world has clearly made a shift from the physical to digital, looping with it security or the lack of it, from physical to cyber.

In an age where there is no escaping the internet and when the internet of things informs just too much decisions in our lives, it is very important to understand the importance of cyber security and more importantly, the types of cyber security threats one can be vulnerable to.

Cyber attacks are no doubt an expensive mistake, owing the chunk of spending directed to avert it. Below is a list of mind blowing facts on cyber security that sink in a hard reality – everyone is vulnerable to attacks – take caution and keep caution.

Ransomware attacks happen every 14 seconds

The 2019 Official Annual Cybercrime Report (ACR) by Cybersecurity Ventures, predicts that businesses will fall for ransomware attacks every 14 seconds while 12news.com reports that for every 15 seconds, someone around the world joins a social media site. By the time you raise your wrist to look at the time and lower it back, somewhere in the world a ransomware attack has already taken place.

It takes 5 minutes to hack an IoT device

In a NETSCOUT report, it is disclosed that on average an IoT device could be attacked easily within the first five minutes of connecting to the internet!

As aforementioned, with the IoT there is no escaping the internet that has become the basis of many of our daily activities and so life. Therefore, there’s no way to completely disconnect from the internet and go back to the stone age. The problem MUST be tackled head-on.

The 1.7 TBps DDoS attack

The NETSCOUT Threat Intelligence Report featured the largest DDoS attack on record – the 1.7 terabytes per second reflection targeted at a U.S company. Hitherto, the fastest internet speed available is 2,000 Mbps by Xfinity Internet, even Ultra HD quality videos require only 25 megabits per second for streaming. The 1.7 TBps remains a shocker.

Malicious emails

Symantec’s ISTR 2019 report states that public administration organizations receive one malicious email for every 302 emails. The number might seem insignificantly small, but considering the nature of work at such places, it’s very likely for employees to fall into such traps.

Illegal activities involving bitcoin

Bitcoins have created an amazing system of digital currencies providing anonymity, safety, quick transfer, and freedom from artificially regularized currency rates by governments. Unfortunately, most of the illegal activities involve the use of Bitcoins due to the anonymity it offers.

The University of Sydney in Australia published a study – The Review of Financial Studies – that states in part that, “Cryptocurrencies are among the largest unregulated markets in the world.” The report further noted; “Approximately one-quarter of bitcoin users are involved in illegal activity. We estimate that around $76 billion of illegal activity per year involves bitcoin (46% of bitcoin transactions).”

Cyber attackers target small businesses

Small business owners often pay no or less attention to cyber security, thinking they’re not even worth attacks, making them a soft target. Hackers may gain access to their data and steal consumer information, which may include personal details, credit card numbers, and social security numbers.

As Cybint reports, almost 60% of companies have experienced cyber-attacks such as DDoS attacks, phishing, and social engineering attacks. Small businesses make up 13% of such yet surprisingly, they invest less than US $500 in cyber security.

Shocking stats from Forbes estimate that by 2021, an amount of US $6 trillion will be spent on damages incurred from cyber-attacks. Surprisingly this amount exceeds even the global trade of all illegal drugs.

It is relatively easier to stay anonymous online than it is to counter attacks. Be anonymous. Use secure VPN services to hide identity and location. A VPN encrypts all the online traffic making it impossible to track a person’s online activities