How to think like a cyber criminal to protect your business

▤ Summary

Stolen data is a valuable commodity on the dark web, and cyber criminals know they can make a quick buck by targeting businesses with lax security. There are four different kinds of cyber criminals: • Hackers , who use their skills to break into vulnerable systems and networks • Cyberactivists , who often have political or ideological reasons for exploiting a company and exposing their data • ‘Script kiddies’ , who don’t have technical expertise and use off-the-shelf hacking tools to steal data • Malicious insiders , who are employees using their position to steal sensitive information from their company What do cyber criminals want? If you’ve used that password across multiple accounts, the damage could be wide ranging • Phishing and social engineering , where cyber criminals trick people into handing over their details using links or requests in emails, texts, phone calls and other communications • Malware , which is malicious software that can infect your device to monitor your activity, and provide backdoor access to your systems • Ransomware , which spreads across your devices to lock them, so the cyber criminal can threaten to expose or erase your data unless you pay a ransom How can you prepare and protect your business? Cyber criminals often use tools that scan dictionaries and social media to crack accounts, so it’s important to make sure your passwords are complex and contain capitals, numbers and special characters. If you’re using a service that needs you to add or upload information, make sure they’re providing a secure webpage (check the address begins with ‘https’ instead of just ‘http’).

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