Digital Safety

Cybersecurity Consciousness Month attracts to a detailed and Halloween is simply across the nook, so here’s a bunch of spine-tingling figures about some very actual methods and threats lurking on-line

30 Oct 2023
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4 min. learn

October is Cybersecurity Consciousness Month (CSAM) within the US and Canada and European Cybersecurity Month (ECMS) on the opposite facet of the pond. These campaigns symbolize a terrific alternative to share finest apply and enhance consciousness of all issues cybersecurity amongst companies and shoppers alike.

However October can also be the scariest month of the yr. So with Halloween simply across the nook, it appeared like a good suggestion to mix the 2 occasions, and share 20 prime details and figures to scare the wits out of anybody who values their safety. Why 20? As a result of 2023 marks 20 years of CSAM.

This yr’s CSAM has a quite simple four-pronged message for enhancing your safety:

• Use sturdy passwords and a password supervisor
• Activate multi-factor authentication (MFA)
• Acknowledge and report phishing
• Replace your software program

Our prime 20 spooky safety details that may hang-out you

With the above in thoughts, listed here are 20 terrifying safety details to maintain these suggestions prime of thoughts:

• Phishing was the most typical type of cybercrime in opposition to companies and shoppers final yr, based on incidents reported to the FBI. There have been 300,000 in whole reported in 2022, though even this seemingly represents simply the tip of the iceberg.
• Phishing assaults use many lures. The most typical within the first half of 2023 was social media-themed lures, based on ESET Menace Report H1 2023. These accounted for 37.5% of all phishing web sites.
• Username/password combos are in excessive demand, as a result of they will grant hackers entry to your on-line private and banking accounts. One 2022 report discovered greater than 24 billion such combos on the darkish internet, up from 15 billion in 2020.
• Software program updates are important to repair newly found vulnerabilities which cybercriminals can in any other case exploit. Final yr, a document quantity of those vulnerabilities have been found and printed: 25,096.
• Some 80% of vulnerabilities reported in 2022 have been both medium or excessive severity, with 16% deemed crucial. Nonetheless, even non-critical vulnerabilities may be exploited by cybercriminals to damaging impact.
• Phishing continues to be an enormous money-maker for cybercriminals. In 2022 alone it price shoppers and companies over $52 million, based on the FBI.
• MFA is an effective way to mitigate the specter of phishing and safe your on-line accounts. But 44% of People are solely “considerably acquainted” or haven’t heard of it in any respect, based on one examine.
• It’s not significantly stunning then that solely 2.6% of X (previously Twitter) customers have MFA switched on to guard their account from phishing. Social media is a well-liked goal for cybercriminals, so it is best to guard your accounts from unlawful takeover.
• Not all kinds of MFA are created equal, as a result of hackers can intercept codes despatched over textual content with relative ease. But SMS remains to be the most well-liked type of MFA. On Twitter (now X), it accounted for 74% of MFA in 2021, adopted by the safer choices of authentication apps (29%) and safety keys (1%).
• It’s necessary to make use of distinctive, hard-to-guess credentials for all your accounts. A 2022 examine by Digital Shadows discovered that 40 of the highest 50 most typical passwords may be cracked in below a second.
• In accordance with the identical examine, almost one in each 200 passwords is “123456,” which may be simply guessed by cybercriminals.
• It’s essential to vary your passwords if they’ve been concerned in an information breach. But based on one 2021 examine, lower than half (48%) of breach victims change the passwords on the breached account.
• Password reuse is harmful as it may possibly allow hackers to open a lot of your accounts with a single stolen credential. But simply 15% of shoppers use a singular password on every account.
• Stolen credentials can have a crucial affect in your digital life and funds. Over half (55%) of id crimes stemmed from compromised passwords final yr.
• Identification fraud stemming from stolen passwords may even trigger emotional and psychological issues. Practically a fifth (16%) of US victims reported ideas of suicide when interviewed this yr.
• When cybercriminals pay money for your passwords, they will hijack your social, banking and different accounts. Over a fifth (22%) of US adults have been a sufferer of account takeover (ATO), based on one 2021 examine.
• Account takeover can price victims pricey: the typical monetary loss from monetary ATO assaults is almost $12,000.
• As consciousness grows, issues over cybersecurity are additionally rising. Practically half (46%) of People really feel assured concerning the safety of their on-line accounts and 56% are extra involved about their on-line security than ever earlier than, based on Google.
• Password resets are necessary if you happen to’re involved your account could have been breached, or a corporation you do enterprise with notifies you of a breach. A fifth (21%) of People reset their passwords day-after-day or a number of occasions per week, which can indicate that they rely an excessive amount of on reminiscence.
• Password managers are an effective way to retailer lengthy, sturdy and distinctive passwords for each app and website. But, based on the identical survey, solely 44% of People at the moment use one.

Bear in mind: good cybersecurity is for all yr spherical, not only for Halloween. So replace your software program when prompted, select sturdy and distinctive passwords or passphrases and retailer them in a password supervisor, change on MFA on all accounts that supply it, and get accustomed to tell-tale phishing techniques. Keep protected.

This video will even assist put you heading in the right direction to raised password safety: