A multi-disciplined creative design studio

The Sky

Isn't falling

—Part Two

The security exploits may be similar to the Y2K problems that plagued the computer industry in 1999.

In part one of “The Sky Isn’t Falling” we discussed a few recommendations on how to secure your data and raised some important questions.

 

In part two, we’re continuing the conversation with a few examples of what has happened, documented, and published in various news outlets.

But I run a small business. So this will not happen to me?
Here are some hard facts to consider from other sources:

“Menlo Park, Calif. – May 18, 2017
Global ransomware damage costs predicted to exceed $5 billion in 2017, up from $325 million in 2015.

Ransomware damages up 15X in 2 years, expected to worsen; Ransomware attacks on healthcare organizations will quadruple by 2020.”
– Steve Morgan, Editor-In-Chief

According to the Cisco 2017 Annual Cybersecurity Report, ransomware is growing at a yearly rate of 350%.

“This is the new business model, and it is growing at an extraordinary rate,” says Marc van Zadelhoff, General Manager, IBM Security. “Our X-Force security researchers have tracked email spam trends – and discovered a huge increase in ransomware. In 2016, an average of 40 percent of spam emails contained malware links to ransomware, an increase of 6,000 percent over 2015, when less than one percent contained ransomware.”

But I live in Canada! Not the US?
In a global ransomware survey conducted by Accenture, 72% of Canadian organizations that participated, reported being the victim of a cyber-attack in the previous twelve months. Of that amount, 35% were ransomware attacks.

According to the federal government of Canada, which launched a public consultation on cybersecurity on Aug. 16, 2016, about 70% of Canadian businesses have been victims of cyber attacks, and the average cost is $15,000 per incident.

Why Canada?
The global consulting firm Accenture conducted a survey of 2,000 enterprise security practitioners, including 124 in Canada, and found:

“Most Canadian companies do not have effective technologies in place to monitor for cyber attacks and are focused on risks and outcomes that have not kept pace with the threat.”

But what if I do not own a business?
Don’t fret; you may very well be next. Sometimes the lowest hanging fruit is the most appetizing. A friend, who does not own a business, but enjoys playing games online, had his computer hacked by ransomware. He ended up paying $300 US to regain access to his Windows machine. Now imagine if this version of ransomware hit ten unsuspecting individuals. $3000 US in one day is a lot of profit, for doing nothing.

But isn’t Evolving Media a creative design and communications company?
Since 1997, Evolving Media & Design Inc., a design and communications company, has provided web hosting and web design services. We also sell and install SSL Security Certificates to protect your investment and your clients.

We have the technical expertise.

 

Published in Evolving Media Chronicles
Written by Jeff Poissant, RGD
Edited by Kevin Burns

ISSN 2562-5578 (Print)
ISSN 2562-5586 (Online)

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