Covid-19 is the biggest-ever cyber security threat to hit businesses —
The COVID-19 outbreak is forcing millions of employees to work from home. This means countless organizations are faced with a unique challenge: how to keep as many business-critical functions running as possible whilst maintaining adequate security.
Phishing attacks have risen an unprecedented 667 per cent in the UK compared to February, as malicious actors trick users via fake coronavirus alerts. Government statistics revealed that 75 per cent of large organizations were hacked last year, meaning this enhanced threat is all the more worrying.
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April 1, 2022James Stickland, CEO of authentication platform Veridium, highlights that COVID-19 is now posing the largest-ever cyber security threat of recent times. He believes it has shone a light on technology, forcing enterprises to innovate, however, some companies are placing their business at risk by taking shortcuts on security measures.
… "Many companies are facing increasing scrutiny over their identity verification requirements, particularly video conferencing tools which have exploded in popularity. At this current time, invoking business continuity must be prioritized – ensuring clients are serviced and secure authentication for remote employees is provided."
"Ensuring that remote workers don’t fall foul of phishing attacks when resetting passwords will be crucial for employees working from home. There has been a 667 per cent increase in funded cyberattacks on passwords, which are already the weakest link in the security trail, being responsible for over 80 per cent of data breaches."
"Software based authentication that can be delivered remotely will be key to improving cybersecurity for home workers. Authentication measures that require passwords or PINs put pressure on already inundated or unavailable IT helpdesks through resets. More and more organizations are realizing the benefits of taking a multi factor biometric approach to security, which can efficiently safeguard sensitive employee and customer data whilst future-proofing their business."
"The way the world works will change after this – individuals and businesses will rethink their priorities. Flexible working will be more accepted, security will matter more, and relationships will matter more. In the same way it takes a cyber-breach to invest in improving security, this pandemic will make a number of businesses overhaul their remote working strategies. It will be very interesting to see how the business and security world will change."
To learn more about Veridium, please visit www.veridiumid.com.
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New Report Finds 2/3rd of Americans Don’t Understand Benefits of 5G – Top 4 Benefits from Cell Expert
According to Waveform’s survey conducted on March 30th, despite heavy 5G marketing, only 32.8% of consumers said they understood the benefits of 5G.
The top 4 reasons why consumers can benefit from 5G:
Lower latency: Many people don’t appreciate what a huge impact latency has on their experience of the Internet. Latency is the time it takes for a connection to be made between a user and a server. 5G dramatically decreases latency, from around 100ms to 10ms. That means that web pages will load quicker, and generally interactions on the Internet will feel more instantaneous.
Increases Capacity for the Internet of Things: 5G allows cellular networks to handle a much higher capacity of devices, which paves the way for a dramatic increase in the number of IoT devices to come online. This is particularly important in industrial applications, with things like asset tracking becoming an increasingly common application.
Enablement of new technology: 4G LTE was a huge part of what made Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Yelp and so many other tech platforms as popular as they are today. Many of the benefits of 5G won’t come from the technology itself, but the new opportunities that lower latency, faster speeds, and greater capacity create. While we don’t know yet exactly what new technologies the 5G era will enable, it’s going to be an interesting ride. Sina Khanifar’s report also has key findings on remote work, cell connectivity and related industry reports.
About the Author: Sina Khanifar is the founder and CEO of Waveform.com, and has spent the last 13 years helping consumers and small businesses improve their cell phone signal. Sina has a deep expertise in cellular technology, and led an effort to get cell phone unlocking legalized in 2014, culminating in a bill being passed by Congress. He’s also a co-founder at OpenSignal, and technology fellow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. For more information, please visit https://www.waveform.com.
For more information, please see the complete report at: https://www.waveform.com/pages/5g-and-t-mobile-merger-report-04-20
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Millions of Americans Are Working From Home With Unreliable Cell Signal and Internet
An April 2020 Report from Waveform show that 28% of Americans are having issues with either cell or Internet connectivity (and more), and how that impacts the increasing remote workforce.
Some highlights:
• 57.7% of the US workforce recently started working from home due to coronavirus
• Many newly remote employees enjoy working from home and wish it were permanent
• Newly remote employees report they are getting less done
• Over 10 million US employees working from home due to COVID-19 suffer from poor cell signal coverage and daily Internet connectivity issues at home
• 50% of Americans are disinfecting their cell phones regularly to prevent the spread of COVID-19
Sina Khanifar’s report also has key findings on remote work, cell connectivity, and more. For the complete report, please visit https://www.waveform.com/pages/coronavirus-and-remote-work-april-2020.
About the Author: Sina Khanifar is the founder and CEO of Waveform.com, and has spent the last 13 years helping consumers and small businesses improve their cell phone signal. Sina has a deep expertise in cellular technology, and led an effort to get cell phone unlocking legalized in 2014, culminating in a bill being passed by Congress. He’s also a co-founder at OpenSignal, and technology fellow at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. For more information, please visit https://www.waveform.com.
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By Charisma Burghouts
Fornetix. Blog post March 26, 2020
Every industry is vulnerable to data breaches, but the healthcare industry has long stood out above the rest. This vulnerability may prove particularly damaging not only to Protected Health Information (PHI) during the COVID-19 crisis but also patient care.
59% of the U.S. population has already had their healthcare records stolen
According to HIPAAJournal.com, prior to COVID-19 hitting the globe, healthcare data breaches were already being reported at a rate of more than once per day.
Protenus Breach Barometer reported that in 2018 the healthcare sector saw 15 million patient records compromised in 503 breaches, three times the amount seen in 2017. But by July 2019, that number had skyrocketed with potentially more than 25 million patient records breached.
Medical records contain valuable and sensitive personal data including social security numbers, insurance information, payment details, personal health records, and more. According to Experian, a patient’s full medical record can sell for up to $1,000. By comparison, Social Security numbers typically sell for $1 and credit card information for up to $110.
In early March, sources informed Reuters that hackers tried to break into the World Health Organization (WHO). While the attempt was unsuccessful, WHO Chief Information Security Officer Flavio Aggio warned, "that hacking attempts against the agency and its partners have soared as they battle to contain the coronavirus."
Increased IoT-focused cyberattacks may impact patient care
As recently as November 2019, Threatpost, a leading source for IT and business security news, reported that IoT security woes were already plaguing the healthcare industry. "At least 82 percent of connected medical devices have been targeted in the past year, opening the potential for a variety of attacks, from highly sensitive information disclosure to denial of service (DoS) for critical devices," a recent Xtelligent Healthcare Media survey found.
At the same time COVID-19 began accelerating in the U.S. in February, Elad Luz, Head of Research at CyberMDX, warned that "Healthcare organizations are increasingly experiencing IoT-focused cyberattacks."
To read the complete blog, please visit https://blog.fornetix.com/hackers-threaten-healthcare-data-and-patient-care-as-hospitals-endure-overload
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