Ahh the Holidays.....
Warm lights, cocoa in your morning coffee, a different playlist, texting family and friends about upcoming parties...for a lot of people this time of year is infectiously positive.
....
However, (aww come on you knew it was coming) the general feeling of good will means that we (western societies at large) are even less vigilant regarding cyber security than normal (if that is even possible).
I have given in person Security Awareness classes at more than 50 practices this year and recently we have been talking more about scams. I was answering some questions after an event yesterday in fact, and one of the team members asked "why is it that I have suddenly received so many scam/spam calls/texts regarding (certain topic)?"
We talked about it and I thought I would share the bones of the conversation here with you because I think it applies to all of us in the west today.
1. Why does Cyber Crime happen?
Criminals are nothing if not focused on ROI. Today you can make millions before breakfast if you are working with computers and the internet.
2. Why are western nations so highly targeted?
Uncomfortable truth for some people....YOU HAVE MORE MONEY THAN ANYONE ON EARTH.....
3. What can we do about it?
Exercise healthy paranoia. We talk a lot about this in my classes. We are too soft in the west. We assume too much safety and security. I thinks its truly wonderful that we are relatively physically secure. I really do. However, the world is shifting and we need to wake up and take our personal and national sovereignty on the digital front incredibly seriously. Think before you click, download or respond. Don't answer calls from unknown numbers, don't buy things off of social media ads (go to the site directly) be extremely skeptical of messages that have attachments and links this time of year...etc. Enable 2FA on everything, have strong, obscure, individualized passwords. keep physical copies of critical information and don't rely too heavily on any one account or technology.
Remember, a healthy paranoia.
Merry Christmas 🙂
