Quick Intelligence Blog

Scams on social media are not uncommon, but when it comes to LinkedIn, people tend to be more willing to share personal information in the hopes of acquiring a new job or business lead. This is why you need to be even more vigilant about protecting your personal information when using LinkedIn.

For most users, passwords are all that is protecting your files, data, and apps from unauthorized access. Yet, people still tend to use passwords that are too easy to guess, and even easier for software tools to crack.

When it comes to running your business, you know that you need to be prepared. Just like we all know what to do in the event of a fire because we practice our escape plan, it is important for your business to plan and prepare for a ransomware attack.

The CBC News has recently reported on a scam targeting job seekers. The scam works by offering desperate job seekers an amazing “work from home” opportunity. They are also told that the company will send them a cheque to purchase office supplies from a third party and are instructed to e-transfer the money to that third party. The problem is that the job offer isn’t real, the cheques are bad, and once the cheque bounces, you are on the hook for the money.

The Calgary Herald has reported that the Calgary Police Service, along with the RCMP, have helped arrest members of international cyber crime family Sodinokibi. Police agency Europol says that the Sodinokibi family was responsible for 7,000 internet infections worldwide, 600 of them in Canada.

Business buzz words like “digital transformation” get thrown around a lot in conversation, but what does it really mean? Bill Schmarzo in an article for CIO Magazine defined digital transformation as the “application of digital capabilities to processes, products, and assets to improve efficiency, enhance customer value, manage risk, and uncover new monetization opportunities.” As business owners, we all want to improve efficiency while enhancing customer value, managing risk and monetizing new opportunities.

A survey by data management company, Cohesity, found that 40% of American consumers don’t want businesses to pay ransomware demands to cyber criminals. The study elicited responses from more than 1,000 U.S. consumers ages 18 and older. Moreover, 23% of those surveyed said they'd stop doing business with a company that paid a ransom. Further 48% would consider not doing business with a company that paid a ransom.

Anyone who has ever taken a goal setting workshop is familiar with the phrase “not having a plan is planning to fail.” When it comes to cyber security, if you don’t have a cyber security protection and response plan, you are certain to face a cyber security failure of some sort.

A new survey by the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) says that nearly 70 per cent of Canadian organizations facing a ransomware attack last year paid the demands to avoid downtime, reputational damage and other costs. The interesting thing is that when they asked cyber security professionals if they supported legislation to make ransomware payments illegal, 64% said yes.

So, you are a small business owner, and are about to land your first big client. Everything is going well, but before they sign the contract, they hand you a cyber security questionnaire. Now the panic sets in. Does this sound familiar?