Check The Content First, Then Click.

Cybercriminals impersonate people, companies or institutions you know to gain attention and trust (spoofing). To do this, they try to make email sender addresses, web addresses and messages appear deceptively real. However, there are a few tricks you can use to verify authenticity. Take a close look at the sender and the content: Are there any obvious spelling and grammatical errors? Is it a legitimate email address? Let’s take the following example: support@apple.de. Is the “L” in Apple an “L” or maybe an uppercase “i”? This is very easy to control. Or: Someone has provided a text module with a hyperlink. Just move your mouse over the word without clicking. Most programs show where the link leads to. However, you should always enter web addresses yourself in the browser. The basic rule is: Do not open any messages, attachments or links if something strikes you as odd, and certainly not if you do not know the sender. The same applies to software and apps: do not install applications from unknown or unverified providers.

Securing Poorly Protected Accounts

Having a secure password is now a given. Each time you register, you are advised to use a strong one. But the truth is that even in 2022, “123456” and “password” were still the most popular.
Good password hygiene ensures that nobody can easily guess your current password. This includes using a strong password at least ten characters long and consisting of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters. Also, it would help if you renewed passwords regularly and never recycled them. However, before you write down your difficult passwords on a piece of paper that other people around you might find, you can transfer the responsibility to a password manager. This saves the information and automatically inserts it on the respective websites.
With two-factor authentication, you can protect your accounts additionally. You verify the registration for a website or app with a second input – for example, a PIN that you receive by SMS or biometric features. Attackers would then need your password and your smartphone to crack your user account.

Trusting The Technology

Manufacturers constantly work to make their hardware and software more secure and regularly release updates. Once your PC or phone prompts you to update, please don’t ignore it or postpone it until tomorrow. This increases the risk that vulnerabilities identified by developers, for example, remain open for longer and can be exploited by cybercriminals. Ideally, activate the automatic updates function to close security gaps as quickly as possible.

The same applies to security functions such as the firewall or virus scanners. These should also remain switched on permanently and updated to ensure the greatest possible protection of the end device.

Of course, the responsibility does not lie solely with the workforce. Companies have to help with certain adjustment screws. On the one hand, they can support their employees with information and further training with the help of regular, practical security awareness training courses.
On the other hand, pursuing a three-part security and resilience strategy is advisable. Part of this strategy is anticipating threats and implementing the right technologies to protect the infrastructure. It’s also imperative that they know what to do during a successful disaster recovery and business continuity attack.

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The Use Of Artificial Intelligence, The Key

Although Artificial Intelligence is a technology that can provide excellent solutions for cybersecurity breaches, at the same time, it is a mighty weapon for cybercriminals. Attacks via phishing or ransomware (link to ransomware article) are much more effective when powered by AI.

So at the end of the day, everything depends on natural intelligence to make good or bad use of Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence software or machine learning (Machine Learning) can ‘learn’ from the consequences of past events and thus identify cybersecurity threats. But the question is, how can such intention be detected and, if it turns out to be malicious, can it be stopped instantly?

Future Of AI In Cybersecurity

As companies have more personal data, the potential leaks are increasingly significant, so that not only users are at risk, but companies are now also essential sources of risk. Artificial Intelligence is not weakening the job market for security experts, but it is a sector that must be updated, worked on and better understood to combat possible threats.

There are several questions that experts wonder about. Among them, if Artificial Intelligence will assume the functions of cybersecurity, or if AI and cybersecurity will be allies, or on the contrary, they will distance themselves as possible enemies. Among the possible solutions to answer all these questions is to implement, update the rules, and allow the machine to process, learn, and adjust its algorithms in the backend.

It may well be possible that, for example, Artificial Intelligence eliminates the need for passwords. So in 5 or 10 years, they will practically no longer be used. In short, more and more companies are betting on AI to increase their cybersecurity systems. Still, it is true that, as it is a technology that reacts similarly to human behavior through experience, it has its share of risk, against which it will have to establish barriers.

Also Read: The Industry 4.0 Revolution How To Create A Hyperconnected Company

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Although security experts have wiped out many varieties of dangerous ransomware, many such pathogens are still circulating, and organizations are exposed to a serious threat to their storage systems. Protecting yourself from attacks is a priority as enterprise storage is increasingly diversified, and there are numerous avenues of attack that cybercriminals can exploit. Another priority is to recover in the event of a system hijacking by this malware, and for this, it is necessary to have inviolable backup systems.

In a recent article published by Jerome Wendt, president and founder of DCIG and independent technology analyst, he delves into the risks of ransomware for data storage and the options available to companies that want to recover after being affected by an attack. Of this type. In their opinion, immutable storage solutions are one of the main options available to them, and there is a wide variety of media they can use.

On the one hand, traditional storage media, such as optical discs and magnetic tape, remain isolated from the networks and can be restored. Or magnetic hard drives and USB media that stay disconnected. The increasingly popular cloud storage services and Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS). Businesses prefer disk and cloud storage for speed reasons.

But for disk storage to be immutable, you must use software that offers specific data immutability capabilities, accessible in two ways. One is through backup hardware or storage devices that include data immutability. Another is by purchasing software-defined storage or backup software that can make any hard drive immutable. On the other hand, certain cloud providers have long had object storage offers with data immutability options, which have evolved, adapting to new customer requirements.

In addition, the storage industry has developed the concept of Air-Gapped Storage, which is based on creating a space physically disconnected from non-secure networks, in which computers or storage systems can be located, guaranteeing the inviolability and immutability of the data. , away from the risks posed by ransomware. According to Wendt, this concept implies a low cost compared to other solutions; its technology has already matured enough and is well proven.

Wendt says that companies have multiple options for immutable data storage and recommends exploring these possibilities to find the most suitable recovery medium for their specific needs. However, it insists on the need to have systems disconnected from the networks to avoid any possible risk of infiltration. But it also warns that there are risks because immutable storage systems cannot detect, repel or prevent ransomware attacks, and the stored data may contain latent traces of this type of malware. For this reason, it is vital to carry out a deep scan of the data stored in backup copies to avoid risks. For this, it is necessary to have robust security software specialized in fighting ransomware.

Also raed: Teleworking – IT Security Put To The Test Of New Information Challenges In The Cloud

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The two platforms most affected by these viruses are Microsoft Windows and Android, both of which coincide with the most used operating systems. Therefore, they are the juiciest to spread this type of malicious code. However, other platforms do not get rid of this type of problem, although they are somewhat safer …

A review of the most dangerous computer viruses in history

Morris

Morris is a particular type of malware, it is a worm that spread in November 1988. Although it was not dangerous, it came at a time when cybersecurity was very green.

At that time, it infected 10% of the 60,000 computers connected to the Internet that existed in that decade. Nothing surprising if you compare them with some current viruses, but at the time it represented a serious problem.

It even affected government teams, the Pentagon, NASA, etc. Although the only thing that produced was a decrease in performance on infected computers, as well as creating processes and files in some temporary folders.

Its author was Robert Tappan Morris, hence its name. At that time a young student at Cornell University. In 1990 he would be sentenced to pay more than $ 100,000 and perform 400 hours of community service. After that, he used his talent to make a fortune on the Internet with various projects and is currently an associate professor at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

CIH / Chernobyl

Another of the worst malicious codes in history was CIH / Chernobyl, which made its appearance in 1998. This time the Internet was booming, although security was still highly questionable.A student from the University of Taipei named Chen Ing Hau developed this malware that formatted the hard drive of the affected computer, deleting all its information.

It affected Microsoft Windows 95 and Windows 98. Thus demonstrating the ineffectiveness of the antivirus of the time and affecting 60,000 computers around the world and causing millionaire losses.

Melissa virus

In 1999 Melissa arrived. This virus came through email, with a message saying ” Here’s the document you asked me for … don’t show it to anyone .”A very juicy message that made victims sting and when opening the file, forwarding to the first 50 contacts in the agenda and infecting the team.

This produced very important economic losses, estimated at around 80 million at the time. Therefore, its creator, David L. Smith, was sentenced to prison for 20 months. After that, he began collaborating with the FBI to find the creator of the virus Anna Kournikova.

I Love You, malware

I Love You was another virus that threatened computers in 2000, along with the famous 2000 effect. It made a huge impact on the Internet, infecting 50 million computers every week.

Philippine student Onel de Guzman was its creator. And, probably, he did not imagine that his work ended up affecting teams of the Pentagon or the British Parliament. Ultimately, he would be saved from prison as he lacked laws on this type of security threat in his country of origin.

Like Melissa, this virus also used social engineering to capture its victims. It was spread by mail with a love message ” Love letter for you “. When it infected the computer, it substituted files for copies and tried to steal user information.

Also Read Hidden Menus And Other Android Secrets You Don’t Know

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Those more than 100 million downloads may sound like a guarantee that the application is legitimate (that it is) and that it will not compromise our security since we already know that Google Play, and the rest of the official app stores, offer applications that are verified and pass security controls. But there is no complete security, 100%.

What Happened With CamScanner?

CamScanner is conceived as a legitimate application, without any malicious intent. Like so many legitimate applications, it showed ads for monetization, allowed purchases within the application and all these usual features.

This module is known as Trojan-Dropper.AndroidOS.Necro.n and Kaspersky experts had observed it in some applications preinstalled on Chinese smartphones. What a Trojan-Dropper? It is malicious software whose objective is to install another malicious code on the victim device or a new version of some previously installed malware.

In this process, the module will execute and extracts one more malicious module from an already encrypted file which is included in the resources of the “guest” application. This malware program is the reason for download Trojans and more malicious modules depending upon their creator’s want to achieve at any point of time.

For example, malicious modules can display intrusive advertisements and register users in paid subscriptions on external services.

Once the malware was detected, the process was standard:

• Report the finding to Google;
• The withdrawal of the Google Play application;
• The creation of a new clean version of malicious software.

The lesson we can get out of all this is that any application, no matter how legitimate it may seem, no matter how many hundreds of millions of downloads you have and, of course, no matter how much it is present in the best app stores on the market, you can change ( somehow), and end up being malware, practically overnight.

That is why it is so important, crucial, to have good security tools (of course, always following the main security guidelines when installing applications on our devices ), such as antivirus and antimalware. We must keep in mind the impossibility of 100% security and, therefore, have good backups for all our devices.

Also Read : Sales Strategies – What They Are, Types of Strategies To Sell

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