Russia’s attack on Ukraine has many cybersecurity professionals raising the alarm. America’s public and private sectors are being encouraged to adopt a defensive security posture.

Start with the greatest threat to the security of any organization – employees who inadvertently allow confidential data to be accessed and stolen. More than 90% of cyber-attacks are attributed to human error or carelessness.

Social engineering attacks such as phishing and spoofing are relentless and get more sophisticated every day. With people’s interests publicly available on social media, hackers often use this information to manipulate an unsuspecting target into handing over or revealing sensitive data.

As attackers constantly employ new and innovative methods, companies are hard-pressed to stop them. This is because even with excellent security tools and knowledgeable security teams in place, the weakest link is often a user within the company who has unknowingly fallen victim to an attacker.

The best security intervention is to raise the awareness of staff. When your employees understand the mechanisms of spam, phishing, spear phishing, malware, ransomware, and social engineering, they can apply this knowledge in their day-to-day jobs.

Even when you raise cyber security awareness among your employees, they can still make mistakes. We’re all human.

CTS recommends a defensive security posture that includes…

• Implementing patches in a timely manner.
• Duplicating your data.
• Making business continuity plans for when digital disruptions impact your business.
• Engaging local experts when you’re ready to upgrade your technology.

Protect your business communications. Contact us at 800.787.4848 or jnolte@ctsmd.us.