Passwords have become a cornerstone of the Internet. These strings of letters and numbers allow us to validate access to various communities, online tools, healthcare, banking, and more. As more and more information is stored behind passwords, efforts to steal and crack them have vastly increased. These new cyber threats led to the creation of tools called password managers, to which hackers...

Cyber criminals are constantly evolving their methods, but their biggest leverage for growth will always be exploiting the human factor. Software and physical measures against cyber attacks have become so advanced that tricking workers is the only remaining attack vector criminals can reliably use. According to Verizon’s 2023 Data Breach Report , 74% of breaches involved a human element. Further...

QR codes have come a long way since being invented in 1994 by a subsidiary of Toyota. Initially introduced to address some limitations of barcodes during the car manufacturing process, QR codes have since become staples in people’s day-to-day lives. The introduction of high-powered cameras to most modern smartphones is what allowed these codes to gain new uses. QR codes, easily generated and cost...

As 2023 comes to an end, one thing is certain: cyber security is still a prime concern for most companies. While industries like healthcare and retail are still more heavily impacted than any other, a concerning trend has emerged in regard to the variety of organizations being targeted by cyber criminals. This variety accounted for a staggering 20% increase in data breaches compared to 2022. More...

This year is seeing more phishing attacks in more places, having more detrimental impacts. One security messaging provider noted a 61% increase in phishing attacks between April and October 2022 compared to the same period the previous year. Another report observed that when phishing attacks were successful in 2022, financial losses from those incidents increased by 76%. In another trend, phishing...

Cloud storage has revolutionized how organizations collaborate internally, allowing them to store data conveniently and cheaper than ever. According to a recent survey of technology leaders, 93% of respondents said their company was “mostly cloud,” reflecting the hold that this technology has on all industries. The auto industry has recently integrated cloud storage at all levels of their...

It’s one of the scariest outcomes of a cyber attack. A data breach’s effect can easily bankrupt a company, and even if appropriately handled, its consequences are often felt for months or years to come. One of the biggest issues with data breaches, and what is often the most damaging outcome , is the loss of trust from customers. After all, if a breach happened once, how do you know it won’t...

Over 3.4 billion phishing emails are sent out to unsuspecting recipients daily. At this rate, over 1 trillion email scams are deployed in one calendar year. The sheer enormity of these numbers makes it easier to understand how and why employees become victims of phishing email scams. Their typical email inbox is overflowing with emails from colleagues, partners, friends, family, third-party...

Carrying out a cyber attack is becoming more and more accessible. For a meager price of $99, anyone can now buy a platform to steal personal data and pose a cyber threat to organizations worldwide. This accessibility is made possible through the Wi-Fi Pineapple. Learn about this new cyber threat in this article and get tips on protecting your organization. What is a Wi-Fi Pineapple? A Wi-Fi...

Since its release, ChatGPT has been a hot topic, with more and more people growing to like it. Among the people who are enjoying the advantages of this AI tool are online scammers. Hackers use ChatGPT's popularity to trick users into downloading malware and stealing their personal information, making it a hotbed for phishing scams. Luckily, users can avoid falling prey to these scams and keep...

In today's interconnected world, organizations are responsible for their cyber security practices as well as those of their third-party vendors. With increasingly complex risk management scenarios, the impact of a data breach can be catastrophic for an entire supply chain. According to a study by IBM, 83% of U.S. companies who participated have experienced a data breach more than once, costing...

Hackers are targeting hundreds of thousands of Google users with fake Google Drive notifications and emails to try and trick them into visiting malicious websites.

As much as we can say that cyber security measures are advancing, we can say the same about cyber criminals and their strategies. In 2022, ransomware attacks occurred every 11 seconds on average, at a global annual cost to businesses and governments of $20 billion US. Costs are rising in part due to the growing ransoms demanded from victims. While estimates of the average ransomware payout in 2020...

Biometric authentication, such as face IDs, retina scans, and fingerprints, were introduced to our devices to increase security. At first, it felt like it was doing what it was meant to do. Plus, the convenience it brought with it was top-notch. I mean, accessing your smartphone with your thumb? Logging into your bank account using your face ID? Amazing. However, over the past few years...

This financial sector’s reliance on computer systems and network has made it an attractive target for cyber attacks, now the biggest risk to the UK financial system. In its latest Financial Stability Report , the Bank of England (BoE) agrees that cyber threats may be prevalent in 2023. The BoE said that it is working to strengthen defenses against cyber attacks. The report identified three...

There is a sharp rise in cyber attacks targeting businesses and organizations across Australia. The nature of these attacks ranges from ransomware and phishing scams to distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, with some estimates suggesting that the number of cyber incidents could be as high as one million per year. The financial cost of these cyber attacks is immense, with businesses and...

On November 1st, 2022, Dropbox became the victim of a cyber attack where source code repositories, as well as names and emails of their employees, were unauthorizedly accessed. It is not yet clear how the unauthorized access took place, but Dropbox has said that they are investigating the matter. The company is urging all users to change their passwords as a precautionary measure. This breach...