Tabush Group's Cloud & Managed IT Blog

There is no one-size-fits-all answer for firms allocating resources for IT solutions.

As the COVID-19 pandemic stay-at-home restrictions loosen, people have begun to venture back into offices, schools, and other public places.  The pandemic created many challenges for businesses as they begin to return, such as social distancing within the office, employee health, and cybersecurity.  Cybersecurity is very important to factor into your return because it is very easy for bad actors to take advantage of people who are distracted by these many changes brought about by the pandemic.

The next addition to our Tech Talk series is out! In our series, we discuss hot topics, insights, and best practices in cybersecurity, cloud, and IT. 

It comes as no surprise that firms are extremely concerned about the security of their data.  How do you prevent unauthorized access to your data and applications?  How do you protect your firm’s data assets from natural disasters or other scenarios that would prevent you from getting to your office?

Managed Service Providers (MSP) deliver customers with IT security services and are now finding themselves at the center of attention as cybercriminals are increasingly focusing their attacks on this vital industry.  Though this is a security challenge for MSPs, it also presents an opportunity for them to prioritize internal security protocols to better protect themselves and their clients.  

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt global health, social systems, and the economy, while also contributing to another unseen threat: cyberattacks.  Cybercriminals are capitalizing on the fact that more people and businesses are depending on digital tools right now.

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, cybercriminals are looking to exploit public fears using malware attacks.  Now, spear phishing attacks are increasing at an exponential rate with cybercriminals attempting to capitalize on people working from home and distracted by COVID-19 fears. 

As the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to grow, the consuming amount of news coverage surrounding the virus has created a new danger – cybercriminals looking to exploit public fears using malware attacks.  It is very important to be cautious for scams in times of uncertainty.  We highly recommend the following tips on what you can do to make you, your colleagues & your families safer online.

Ransomware is not a new phenomenon but for cybercriminals it has become a popular technique to use.  In a ransomware attack, cybercriminals block access to a business or individual’s computer system and hold data hostage until a ransom is paid.  Here, cybercriminals have just one goal - to receive payment from the victim.  Even if the victim is able to pay the ransom, there is no guarantee the criminal will provide the decryption key to release the data.

Recently, ransomware attacks have become significant threats to corporations, cities, and even nations.  In the third quarter of 2019, the average ransomware payout increased to $41,000, a 13% increase from the second quarter.  Also in 2019, 55% of SMBs paid cybercriminals to recover their stolen data.  If nothing else, 2019 proved that ransomware is still a profitable business for cybercriminals and it will continue to get worse.