Cybersecurity Resources
Cybersecurity is critical and should be part of every budget and insurance policy. Period. Easy targets with valuable data to resell used to be a hacker’s dream. Now, these targets have implemented protection, hackers have moved on to smaller, soft targets such as small businesses, non profits, and small government such as townships and schools.
A soft target means their data is not valuable to anyone else but the owning entity, so a hackers goal is not to steal and resell it if there’s no value to it. Instead, hackers now block access to your data via ransomware and you will not be able to operate unless you pay the ransom. Insurance policies do not have cybersecurity provisions, and cybersecurity insurance usually doesn’t payout ransomware unless you purchased the ransomware provision. Without backups to restore your data from, and without protection to prevent this in the first place, you’re stuck and must pay the ransom.
A hacker will research their targets for days to a few weeks and make attempts multiple times a day. They only need to get lucky once a week or so to earn thousands in ransom payouts.
I’ve created a list of resources so you can learn about cybersecurity. Having a security mindset asking the right questions to determine what you need for protection is critical. It’s only a matter of time before you become a target.
Protect yourself from:
- Breaches, hacks, loss of personal data
- Ransomware
- Phishing attacks (tricking users to reveal sensitive information)
- Denial of service attacks (DoS)
- Loss of your backup system
Aware
Study reveals age, nationality, and motivation of hackers.
A national public awareness campaign aimed at increasing the understanding of cyber threats and empowering the American public to be safer and more secure online.
A national alliance to promote individual and business awareness in safe online practices.
PBS-Nova resource. Promots and equips youth to stay safe online through videos, games, coding challenges, password cracking, social engineering, and more. Users will learn how to keep their digital lives safe.
Ponemon Institute’s “2017 Cost of Cyber Crime Study: Global”
A report built on a substantial data set from many sources.
Cybersecurity for Small Businesses
A resource for small businesses from the FCC.
Three videos to help make you cyber-aware.
Assess
Microsoft Security Assessment Tool
Use their risk assessment app to get recommendations about best practices for security.
For admins, from sectools.org
Cyber Attacks Timeline and Statistics
From hackmageddon.com
Information Security Resources
National Institute of Standards and Technology’s guidelines for security.
Health Information Technology Privacy and Security
Health IT has many benefits for individuals and providers, learn how security applies to the healthcare industry.
20 Security Network Controls.
Act
To report ransomware.
To report ransomware.
To report ransomware, scams.
Malware and spyware removal guide.
Cybersecurity Workforce Handbook.
NSA Information Assurance Library
Advisories and alerts, guidance, and reports that are agency tested for hardened security.
CWE provides unified and measurable set of software weaknesses for better software security selection.
And information security resources.
Report any and all fraud, crime that partially or fully involved computers to execute the attack.