During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 70% of the full-time workforce in the United States shifted to working from home. When the market survey was conducted post-COVID, almost 58.6% of the U.S. workforce still preferred to work from home with no plans of returning to a physical workplace. Although home office facilities have many advantages, they also threaten cyberattacks, exposing business organizations to increased risk.
A study conducted in 2019 reveals that 91% of companies used the public cloud, whereas 72% used a private one. Almost every bit of a company’s daily activities is digitally operated from various online business platforms, data-sensitive accounts, and increased cryptocurrency transactions. Due to this radical shift, companies are experiencing different new and higher degrees of risks, starting from cryptocurrency ransomware attacks to data breaches and online password hacks.
This article will discuss the five most frequent cybersecurity threats for businesses that companies are facing nowadays. When you are playing online casinos, you must play through the best online casino australia to not get attacked.
- Phishing
Phishing is used by hackers that trick users into downloading harmful content. It looks like a regular email adding legitimate-looking URLs, attachments, company names, and logos. The email says users to take action by clicking a link and sometimes downloading an extension. The primary purpose of sending these files is to steal information from the user’s account.
Besides email phishing, another type of hacking is also noticed, which is known as Smishing. It is done by sending SMS messages that include dangerous links. There is Search engine phishing as well. In this new technique, hackers create fake online websites and rank them high on search engine results to steal customers’ information. With the increase in cyber-attacks, a wrong click from an employee can make a business vulnerable to massive risk.
- Malware
Malware, which is malicious software, can hack devices by either lowering the speed significantly or stopping them from functioning entirely. Malware can infect any device when a user clicks an infected link or downloads a file from an unknown source. It can infect a computer or smartphone through pop-up ads, email attachments from an unknown sender. It ruins computer systems by sending viruses, ransomware, spyware, adware, and worms. Unfortunately, this risk is higher for employers who work remotely.
- Ransomware
Ransomware is a distinctive form of malware that corrupts a computer system by software that locks and encrypts the files on any device. Once a hacker has implemented a ransomware attack, then users can not access their systems or files. To re-access the systems, users have to pay a ransom fee to the cybercriminals. During the pandemic, nearly 58% of U.S. companies have lost revenue due to ransomware attacks.
- Data Breaches
A data breach occurs when personal or sensitive information is stolen from a system without the knowledge or approval of the system’s owner. Either a small company or any large organization can often face the challenge of a data breach.
Sensitive or Confidential data can help by anything, including a user’s name, social security numbers, credit card numbers, home addresses, email addresses, and passwords. Hackers can implement data breaches by tricking the employees into downloading a harmful attachment or by mistake disclosing login credentials.
