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Tag: cyber security

Doing Background Checks on Yourself and Others

Ever thought of doing a background check on yourself?  I have, and it’s very revealing.  I found a six year old video that a business acquaintance recorded with his cell phone while we were sitting in a restaurant.  It wasn’t bad, just a recording of me doing a 30 second sales pitch, but I never expected it to be made public.  He uploaded it to his YouTube account and forgot to mark it as private.  Consequently, anyone doing a Google search on my name would have run across it on the first page.  Not the end of the world, but it might have influenced how a future employer might have viewed me. I was a bit concerned, especially since I was applying for a new position at a local crane company. It was an easy fix.  I phoned my old friend and had him mark it as private.

What’s Your Companies Phish Prone Percentage?

What does that mean? A company’s phish prone percentage is the percentage of employees, staff or volunteers that would fall victim to a malicious email. It can happen to anyone from Kitchener Landscapers to electricians and even dentists. All the people working in these professions are susceptible to an email that would either prompt the recipient to download an attachment, or click an embedded link. The link would deliver the unsuspecting user to a web site, that would begin downloading its content (text, images, etc), but would also download a small software program that a cyber criminal could exploit to gain further access to the organizations network.

Risk Management and Cyber Security

Your small to mid-sized company is beginning to do well, and recovering slowly from the economic downturn over the last several years. You’ve even reinstated one of your favorite amenities from the past, being picked up in a stretch limousine or town car and driven back and forth to work daily. You get so much work done during those times. The quietness of the limo allows your mind to enter into new areas and wonder; Have we maximized our marketing efforts? Could we improve our supply chain? Have we addressed all of the risks our business could face? Is our network vulnerable to being hacked?

The 7 Cardinal Sins That Get Users Hacked

Users are considered the weakest link in IT risk management.  Yes, it’s true…we are towing around the weakest link with us.  We are too careless and quick-to-click.  So, how do the bad guys find ways to take advantage of these facts?  They are crafty, skillful and us of social engineering, (psychological tricks) in their method to manipulate us into falling for their spam email, which when coming from a cybercriminal is called a phishing email or phishing attempt.  This is an attempt that prompts you to click a link within the email or to view an attachment.