Posted in Cyber Security

  2022 was a bad year for hacks and scams, especially those targeting businesses. The third Annual Cyber Threat Report by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) to June 2022 reported these scary statistics: An increase in financial losses due to business email compromise of over $98 million Over 76,0000 cybercrime reports (one every 7 minutes) A rise in the average cost per cybercrime report to over $39,000 for small business, $88,000 for medium business, a...

Recent attacks on major companies resulting in massive loss of personal information has enforced stricter regulations for company security. Insurance companies are requesting information from their policy holders on the insured company's cyber security before policies are granted and there is talk of updating The Privacy Act to hold more accountability for organisations in relation to personal security of their clients and staff (see here for The Attorney General's Priv...

What is social engineering?   Social engineering, in the context of cyber security, is the psychological manipulation by a hacker, in hopes of people divulging private or secure information to them.   How do hackers use social engineering?   Hackers use social engineering to perform their hacks and scams utilising the key principles listed below. Authority – the hacker will pretend to be a person of authority. This is prevalent in tax office scams, Microsoft h...

Before you go on vacation you generally check that the power points are turned off, someone is going to collect the mail and that all the doors are securely locked. But what about your I.T. security? Cyber criminals do not take holidays - in fact cyber-attacks and hacks increase during the holiday and sale season.
  This blog is a reminder of a to-do list of actions to ensure you have done, I.T. wise, before going on vacation.
  Enable multi-factor authenticati...

In these scary times of hackers targeting all individuals and businesses, it is more important than ever to up the ante in the security department and do all you can to keep yourself safe from a cyber-attack. With the recent announcement of possible changes in legislation, businesses could face astronomical fines for not providing relevant protection for their clients and clients' data. An integral part of The Essential 8 is to introduce multiple layers of protection, such...

October is Cyber Security month and with this we wanted to share some of the new and different ways hackers and scammers are finding to target and attack vulnerable technology users. Although we are always here to help in the event of a potential hack or scam, below are five new ways hackers and scammers are targeting you.   1. The Spoofed Email/Text Spoofing is when a hacker or scammer impersonates you and sends an email or text to people who you do business with or kn...