Do a Security Checkup for National Computer Security Day!

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Strengthen & Maintain Your Strong Security Culture to Stay Safe from Cybercrime

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November 30^th is National Computer Security Day in the US. That makes today an excellent day to think about ways to build a strong security culture. In today’s volatile security landscape, risk is constantly shifting for every organization. One of the best ways to combat elevated data breach risk and reduce the chance of a security incident is to emphasize the importance of good daily security hygiene and remind employees that everyone plays a part in keeping information safe. This holiday creates a great jumping-off point to launch new safety initiatives that can bolster security throughout the busy holiday season and into the new year.

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Security Awareness is Critical for Security Success

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When did National Computer Security Day first emerge? 

CyberTalk.org reports that National Computer Security Day was established in 1988. The need for increased security awareness became apparent after one of the world’s first cyberattacks: an attack on ARPANET (the internet’s predecessor) that harmed 10% of connected computers. The Washington, D.C. chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Security, Audit and Control chose November 30th to remind folks to be security conscious before the busy holiday season. 

Read more about the fascinating history of National Computer Security Day and look at the timeline of cybercrime here: https://nationaltoday.com/national-computer-security-day/ 

Why was National Computer Security Day created? 

National Computer Security Day is designed to raise awareness about cyber security issues. Since security is everyone’s responsibility, it’s vital that security is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. This also provides an opportunity to remind employees not to engage in dangerous behaviors like not using caution when handling email and password sharing or recycling. Plus, it gives businesses a chance to open dialogues around security that every employee can join in to make sure that every employee gets the message and knows what to do in case of trouble – and businesses today are more at risk for a cybersecurity disaster than ever before.   

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10 Things to Know About Today’s Cybercrime Landscape 

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1. More than 50% of ransomware attacks last year struck SMBs with less than 100 employees  

2. A cyberattack is attempted every 39 seconds 

3. All companies, regardless of size or region have a 1 in 4 chance of being hit by a ransomware attack today 

4. 39% of all UK businesses (or 2.39 million) reported a cybersecurity breach or cyberattack in the 2020-2021 reporting window.   

5. 74% of organizations in the United States have fallen victim to a successful phishing attack that resulted in a data breach in the last 12 months 

6. Phishing remains the top data breach threat for the third year in a row   

7. About 60% of companies that suffer a cyberattack go out of business 

8. The FBI recorded a 69% increase in reported cybercrime in 2020 

9. 85% of breaches involved a human element 

10. 42% of respondents in a cybercrime survey said that their organization had been compromised because of a bad, stolen, reused or cracked password in 2020 

How can organizations participate in National Computer Security Day? 

This is a great time to launch a new security awareness training initiative! No business is too small to be at risk of a damaging cybersecurity incident, and cyber risk is growing for every organization every day. IBM took this opportunity to remind everyone that computer security is an ongoing conversation that everyone needs to be a part of for companies and individuals to stay out of trouble. 

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Participate in National Computer Security Day with a Quick Security Checkup 

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Concentrate on sending the message that everyone is on the security team. We recommend a few best practices that every company can follow in order to reduce their chance of falling prey to cybercriminals, fighting off a ransomware nightmare or having another kind of damaging data disaster. 

• Make sure everyone is using a strong, unique password for every account  
• Patch and update all software regularly  
• Use multifactor authentication to protect credentials  
• Update security awareness training  
• Follow safe email handling practices  
• Set up dark web alerts for compromised credentials  
• Review compliance to be sure industry standards are met  
• Create an incident response plan for security mistakes  
• Eliminate unsafe password storage (in documents, on paper, etc.)  
• Learn more about cyberattacks like ransomware 

We compiled this advice into a fun infographic for SMBs and MSPs to use in their efforts to increase awareness of good computer security behaviors while helping organizations build a strong security culture. DOWNLOAD IT>>

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Improve Security and Compliance with BullPhish ID 

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Did you know that companies that participate in regular security awareness training are up to 70% less likely to have a security incident? Every business can gain that edge over cybercrime quickly and affordably with BullPhish ID. Teach employees to be alert for trouble and maintain compliance with industry requirements without adding stress or expense with easy-to-understand, up-to-date security and compliance training around today’s biggest risks! 

• Train your way with customized content or plug-and-play modules 
• Automate the delivery of lessons to make training a set-it-and-forget-it proposition 
• Engaging video lessons present concepts in bite-sized pieces 
• Choose from phishing, data handling, password security compliance topics like PCI-DSS or HIPPA and many more lessons using engaging, animated videos 
• Get fully customizable phishing resistance training simulation kits including messages, URLs and attachments and more that you can tweak to reflect your industry’s unique threats 
• Training around the latest threats with new kits added monthly 
• See improvements in simple, clear progress reports that demonstrate the value of training 
• Learn more about BullPhish ID in this webinar:  https://www.idagent.com/resources/relaunch 

ID Agent solutions experts are ready to set you up with a new training solution for the new year. BOOK A DEMO>>

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