Black Friday might bring to mind good deals and shopping stampedes, but its history actually has nothing to do with that. What it does have is greed and chaos, beginning with the first incarnation of Black Friday on Sep. 24, 1869. It was right after the Civil War and the American economy was in shambles when two crooked opportunists by the names of Jay Gould and Jim Fisk were fishing for gold. Gould and Fisk hoarded as much of the nation’s gold as they could, driving the price up and making an enormous profit.
The plan paid off, with Gould and Fisk taking a cool $60 million to the bank after their shopping spree for gold, according to History.com. However, on that fateful day in September of 1869, President Grant changed his mind. He decided to introduce millions of dollars of gold into the circulation, causing the price of gold to plummet. Gould and Fisk’s scheme failed miserably, and the drop in the price of gold hit many Wall Street financiers, causing them to lose millions. The day came to be known as “Black Friday.”
You’re probably asking how in the world does this relate to cyber security? Back in 1869 Gould and Fisk were said to be fishing for gold. Today the crooks are cyber criminals who are ‘phishing’ to exploit your data for profit. And today is Black Friday, a day they see as a perfect opportunity to catch out unsuspecting online users with phishing scams.
It doesn’t matter in what capacity you’re operating at now; chances are you’ve got staff or colleagues that don’t take cyber security seriously or are careless with suspect emails or URL links. You cannot afford to bury your head in the sand and just leave it to luck.
This is where myIT enters the picture.
Cyber-attacks on the on the increase and the most efficient method of breaching your defenses is via one of your weakest links – your staff. The most common breaches are now a result of human error. That might be due to a poor understanding of company operating procedures, carelessness, or more often than not, inadequate training and cyber awareness.
At myIT, we specialise in providing up to date/current training and education for your team. It doesn’t matter if a member of staff uses a computer or mobile device for work once a week or 12 hours a day; everyone in your team needs the same competencies and knowledge to protect themselves, your business and your customers.
Technologies that help your business are evolving daily, while simultaneously, the threats to those new technologies are emerging in parallel. It’s a never-ending arms race. You’re trying to build your business and exploit all the latest tech to make that happen, while the hackers and villains of the world are trying their darndest to take advantage of all that exciting new tech. It was a lot simpler when it was pen and paper!
The irony of much of the threat that the modern world faces from the cyber-enemy is not the targeting of the actual technology itself, but the operator. That’s the member of your team and staff that they’re after. How do you combat that? Training and education. If your team isn’t up on the latest threats and has competent understandings of how to go about their day’s work in a safe and cyber-aware environment, you’re leaving your business very vulnerable.
But now you have to ask yourself, is your staff and team aware of the latest threats that are targeting them to gain access to your systems?
No?
They need to be.
In 2021, people (that’s you and your staff) are seen as the weakest link for the cyber-criminal and the easiest gateway to a successful hack. These unsavory characters are using sophisticated phishing methods to target your staff to gain access to what you’ve put your blood and sweat into. You’ve got to protect that, because if you leave yourself vulnerable, either through incompetence or a lack of preparedness, you could pay a hefty price in both profits lost and your reputation.
When it comes to cyber security, there is no time for delay. If you aren’t currently educating and upskilling your team to enhance your resilience to cyber threats, then there is no doubt that you need that training, and now is the best time to start on the road to building a program that keeps both you, your team, and your business safe and secure for years to come.
Contact myIT today to discuss Security Awareness Training options to help you and your business stay cyber-safe in the 21st century!