I don’t know about your TV watching habits when you were a kid, but many of the shows I enjoyed included friendly robots who helped people. Rosie, from The Jetsons, for example. Or the cute “adopted daughter” Vicki on Small Wonder.
Of course, there were plenty that wanted to destroy humanity, but the future was generally friendly when I was a kid because I hadn’t learned about the bad side.
These days, malware bots—autonomous programs that run on the internet or a network—are posing great challenges for business.
Statistically, many readers of this blog will have been targeted. Malware bots can be programmed to steal sensitive, private information that can be sold. Stealing an entire profile means the cybercriminals could potentially bypass your multi-factor authentication (MFA), one of the stronger security measures we should all use.
If the nogoodnik only gets a hold of your login name and password, MFA is the next level of defence. But if they can access all your settings and profile, they can sneak in through back doors.
Once in, the crooks can use your information for all sorts of nefarious activity.
We all know someone who has been “hacked” or had their information stolen, so it’s worth considering what you can do to protect your business.
If you’ve read this blog before, you know we preach education, awareness and updates. Always keep your anti-virus software updated and, yes, on. Implement a password manager and MFA as the next firewall to catch any leaks in the anti-virus software. In the unlikely event that the cybercriminals penetrate those defences, ensure all your files are encrypted.
These simple steps can frustrate a malware bot enough that they will move on to an easier target.
If you want assistance in implementing any or all of these security measures, let us know. We do this for small- and medium-sized businesses in Victoria, BC, every day.
Ian Robertson
