Spooky Cyber Threats – Day 3
October is #CyberSecMonth and with this week leading up to Halloween, our Business Engagement Officer Hannah steps in to the mind of a cyber criminal to highlight common cyber security issues and help you #BeCyberSmart. Today the focus is on ‘How to protect your hardware and software’.
“Never update your Operating System or Software?
“That’s fine by me! Security flaws in software are great for getting malware onto the network. I will transport this malware as an email attachment. When opened, the malware will embed itself deep into your system, where it will remain dormant but observant. I’ll wait until you have a product launch, new partnership or big campaign coming up, as this will have the most impact.
“And your vulnerability level will determine the type of attack I am going to unleash onto you- more vulnerabilities, the bigger the attack. In the meantime, with the help of spyware, I can sit and monitor your activity, capture login credentials, steal data and more.”
ADVICE - How to protect your hardware and software:
- - Install updates for Software and Operating Systems as soon as they are released, to shorten the window of opportunity cyber criminals have to exploit your systems. Never miss important security fixes by enabling automatic updates. Steps to find updates for popular Operating Systems can be found here https://www.policedsc.com/images/PDSC_HOW_TO_UPDATE_OPERATING_SYSTEMS_update_8721.pdf
- - Only use products that are regularly supported by updates. Find supported products here https://www.policedsc.com/images/SUPPORTED_PRODUCTS_LEAFLET.pdf
- - Install AntiVirus to detect and remove malware. More information can be found here https://www.policedsc.com/security-advice/antivirus-firewall
- - Zero Day Attacks exploit new vulnerabilities that are yet to be fixed. More information about this attack can be found here https://www.policedsc.com/security-advice/latest-threats/what-is-zero-day-vulnerability
Hannah Khoo is the Business Engagement Officer for Police Crime Prevention Initiatives, delivering the award winning ‘In the Community’ programme and drop-in Digital Security Clinics. Hannah’s role sees her visit local businesses with police officers to carry out cyber security assessments, provide practical support and share detailed advice about cyber crime and online security. Hannah completed a BSc Honours degree in Computer Security and Forensics at the University of Greenwich and was named as one of Britain’s top 50 business advisers by Enterprise Nation in 2020.