If you use Office 365 – as many lawyers do – be aware that cyber-criminals might try to exploit it to break into your network and steal your data.
Here’s a real-life alert from cybersecurity expert Craig Petronella.
“One of our clients recently received a phishing email that was meant to steal Office365 credentials by directing them to a data-collecting landing page, via a fraudulent link. The cyber criminals went so far as to setup an Office365 tenant in order to have an @onmicrosoft.com email address, which looks legitimate to even those paying attention.”
More cyber safety news from Craig Petronella is below.
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Protect Your Business: Cyberattacks Growing Increasingly Prevalent and Dangerous
The following is a recent post on the Petronella Tech blog on the growing threat of cyberattacks. It is reprinted with permission. Read the original post here.
Ransomware is a growing concern of national security in the United States. Last year the country was the victim of 65,000 ransomware attacks, which breaks down to a whopping seven attacks each hour, according to a new report by Recorded Future, a Boston-based cybersecurity company.
While these attacks are on the rise, the greater concern is that they are targeting key infrastructure resources. Businesses’ cybersecurity solutions have been long ignored (as we may or may not have mentioned in previous articles), giving cybercriminals an almost free pass to expose companies’ copious vulnerabilities. And this issue has only escalated during the pandemic. With more Americans working from home than ever before from home office networks that are even MORE vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks than the already under-secured business networks.
This problem was perfectly illustrated in May when The Colonial Pipeline Houston Station had to shut down a critical fuel pipeline due to a ransomware attack. It resulted in panic buying that emptied several gas stations across the Southeast. Ultimately, Colonial paid $4.4 million to unlock its IT systems. Colonial CEO Joseph Blount told NPR that it was the right decision to make for the country, as they had no choice.
In another instance, the ransomware attack on JBS put a question on the domestic beef supply.
The question is: Why the surge in these attacks?
- Cybercriminals have access to high-end malware that can crack the codes of even the tough IT security systems
- The increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies (bitcoin) makes it convenient for cybercriminals to arrange for financial transactions or violate law enforcement.
Holden Triplett, the founder of the cybersecurity consulting firm Trenchcoat Advisors, warns that the increasing number of attacks will continue to rise in the future.
The repercussions of a malware attack are numerous. Firstly, it puts the company personnel in a grave situation. The company gets locked out of access to its data, which just leads to even further complications, depending upon the company’s stature. Additionally, the supplies from the company could be negatively affected, the share prices might fall, and the company might incur huge losses.
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About the Author
Craig A. Petronella is the CEO of Petronella Technology Group Inc, a cybersecurity group that specializes in helping law firms with security and compliance. With 30 years of experience, he is the author of “How Hackers can Crush your Law Firm,” Peace of Mind Computer Support” and other titles. MIT Certified: AI, Blockchain & Hyperledger. Phone: 919-601-1601; Helpdesk Support: 919-422-2607. For information about a cyber-crime risk assessment call: 1-877-468-2721
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