While in the recent past, cybersecurity was a field only giant corporations could afford, today, it has become more and more of a necessary investment even for small and medium companies. The wider adoption and penetration of cybersecurity measures and practices has led to many myths that quickly spread among the public. And in this article, we will try to break down the most common ones. 

Myth #1: It is too expensive for small and medium-sized companies to invest in cybersecurity

Cybersecurity costs may have been high in the past. Today, many expert companies in cybersecurity offer affordable solutions like vCISO that are perfect for small and medium-sized companies. Business owners and managers who say they can’t invest in cybersecurity measures don’t realize the potential damage a cyber-attack could have on their business. We are not talking only about the financial aspects here, and reputational damage could be far worse than any loss on the balance sheets. 

As Todor Kunev from 3Cyber-Sec’s expert team says: “If small and medium companies consider investing in cybersecurity, they should be aware that it takes decades to build trust, a loyal customer base, and a successful cyberattack can ruin all of that in a matter of minutes.”

Myth #2: Cybersecurity is a concern for the IT-department only

That is another common myth among the public. Any company considering that “Cybersecurity is a matter of IT Department only” will fail to involve the C-level in managing the entire corporate cyber security risk. And it will get delegated to IT technical staff, which is a huge mistake. It is like saying the financial security of the company matter only to the accountant.  

Cybersecurity should be a company priority set by the top management, and they are the people that should allocate time and resources to building the 360-cyber defense of the organization. Part of their efforts should be creating and nurturing strong cybersecurity culture and awareness among all staff members. 

For example, a phishing email could target any employee, and that could cause a data breach or ransomware attack. Investing in staff training could provide the staff of any company with the needed knowledge and awareness to detect and prevent the most common attempts of hacking. And it is a crucial part of building the cybersecurity posture of any organization. 

Myth #3: Cybersecurity is a one-time effort and a single investment

Unfortunately, there are some common myths about the frequency of cybersecurity efforts and investments. Managers and C-level representatives often imagine the whole process as building a digital security wall that will remain there forever once done. Your efforts in cybersecurity are like the ones you make for digital marketing – they need to be constant and continuous to bring results. 

Cyber threats change and evolve, and so should your defensive strategy. On the other hand, several measures and practices should be done at least once a year – like penetration testing and vulnerability assessment, especially if you have to cover compliance standards or similar regulations. 

Every business needs a trusted cybersecurity partner

While it is true that every business should invest in cybersecurity and find trusted and reliable experts to help in that task, the CyberSec industry should also put much effort into raising awareness and educating the public about the importance of cybersecurity. That is something we at 3Cyber-Sec deeply believe in and try to do every day.  

We have helped many businesses achieve compliance and build their cybersecurity from the ground up. If you need trusted and expert advisors that can deliver outstanding results – give us a call! We will be happy to consult you! 

The post What are the biggest myths about cybersecurity? appeared first on 3Cyber-Sec.

What is PCI DSS?

As you probably know, the PCI DSS is a global standard that covers the latest payment industry security measures. It is mandatory for any business that processes card transactions, and PCI DSS is the minimum set of technical and organizational requirements designed to help financial companies protect cardholders’ data against fraud through robust payment security. 

PCI DSS requires an annual certification, which includes a detailed security audit that covers areas like: 

• Networks security, segmentation, and management
• Account data protection
• Vulnerability management
• Access control management
• Security events monitoring and testing
• Policy frameworks
• And others 

As you can imagine, the PCI DSS applies to thousands of companies in various industries, and it will become even more critical with the penetration of digital payments. 

What should you know about PCI DSS v4.0?

The standard was released over two months ago, and there are already various resources available. Version 4.0 of PCI DSS aims to: 

• address the latest security needs in the payment industry; 
• support the promotion of constant development of cybersecurity; 
• provide more room for flexibility for companies with different cybersecurity strategies; 
• introduce improvements to validation procedures. 

To meet these goals, PCI DSS v4.0 has introduced some significant changes. However, there is a transition period as the previous version, 3.2.1, will be active and valid in the next two years along with the new one. That means that there will be two versions of the standard in force available to companies in the payment industry, and companies and organizations will have the time to adapt to the new requirements. 

What are the significant changes in PCI DSS v4.0?

Some of the most notable changes affect the following aspects of the standard: 

• Authentication requirements – introduction to new requirements for multi-factor authentication and multi-factor authentication systems; 
• Changes in password requirements – increased length of characters to 12. Some changes for passwords apply only to organizations that don’t use multi-factor authentication; 
• Introducing the option to use groups and share accounts in v4.0 tries to provide more flexibility. More flexible options are presented in the section for targeted risk analysis as well; 
• Another step towards flexibility is the customized approach that allows organizations to show how they are meeting the standard’s requirements. Now there are two validation methods. One that remains the traditional (defined approach), and the second is the new customized method. For the second one, the organization will determine the security controls that will allow it to meet the PCI DSS objectives. The assessor will choose specific testing procedures based on the particular customized approach and then validate the security controls based on them;
• Any organization chooses which validation method to use. However, the customized approach is suitable for the ones that have more robust security measures and experience; 
• Some new changes address the application of the standard to cloud environments by showing more examples and adding clarifications in the section for service providers to make it more understandable how to apply it to cloud providers; 
• Some changes address emerging cyber threats – two new requirements regarding phishing attacks and a set of requirements to handle skimming attacks. 
• Targeted Risk analyses empower organizations to establish frequencies for performing certain activities

Members of the PCI DSS Security Council share that there are improved guidelines for the implementation of the standard and better reporting system. 

Achieve compliance for PCI DSS v4.0 

We expect more organizations to shift to the PCI DSS v4.0 even though the old one will be active for two more years, and version 3.2.1 will remain in force until 31.03.2024. Experts and companies have little less than 24 months to become familiar with the new requirements and see how things work. And some of the new requirements will have an additional period of one year before they become mandatory. 

It may seem like there is a lot of time ahead. However, we always try to encourage our partners and clients to introduce the latest and best practices for cybersecurity. It is good to start planning from now to implement PCI DSS v4.0 and not wait until the last possible time. We are here to support this transition. Just give us a call! 

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The decision to allocate time and resources to cybersecurity investment is the first and most crucial step in a long path to establishing the 360 cybersecurity posture of your organization. Before you go down this road, you should be aware of some essential aspects that we will explain in this article. That will help you have a better understanding and realistic expectations about the cybersecurity investment you will make. 

The owner and/or the top management should be part of the process

Suppose you thought you were going to hire cybersecurity experts and delegate the responsibility of dealing with RISK coming from cyber threats to them and your internal technical IT team. In that case, we have bad news for you. The experts you hire (internal or external) will report to you, and you will make strategic decisions based on their findings and recommendations. Depending on your level of cybersecurity, some things will have priority over others. It is similar to the work your accountant does for you. They are the experts in the company’s finances and balance sheets, but you, as the owner (or a manager), make the strategic decisions. Avoiding this responsibility will likely backfire. 

It is better to hire external cybersecurity experts

Fewer and fewer organizations keep internal cybersecurity teams on their payroll. Finding, training, and maintaining IT talent has become harder in the past few years. That is true for both public and private entities. Small and medium companies have the chance to hire expert companies that can handle their cybersecurity needs. They offer more flexible solutions and often are the cheaper option in the long term. A good example is the role of vCISO – a position that was part of the internal cybersecurity team is now a flexible service that offers more advantages to the businesses that use it. 

Cybersecurity should become part of the daily operations of the business

The cybersecurity measures you adopt should not be an extra burden for your team. They have to be integrated into the business processes and daily operations of the company and not disrupt the staff’s daily work. Management, cybersecurity experts, and team leaders should figure out how to implement the needed recommendations regarding dealing with cyber threats and motivate the people to follow them. 

Every staff member is a crucial part of your cyber defense

Many managers think that people are not part of cybersecurity measures. Things are the other way around – they are the most important ones. Each person from your staff is a potential target of a phishing email or other type of cyberattack that relies on human error. Your employees must have the needed knowledge and internal procedures on what to do in such cases. How to spot a threat, who to report, and how to act. That is the first step to making cybersecurity part of the company culture. Providing training, raising awareness, and helping the staff understand how vital their role is for the organization’s cybersecurity will enormously benefit your efforts to build cyber resilience. And it will help with the adoption of cybersecurity as part of the daily workflow in the company. 

Achieve compliance even if it is not mandatory

For some industries and countries, there are mandatory compliance standards. If you handle financial card payments you should achieve compliance under the PCI DSS certification. A good example of cybersecurity standards is the UK Cyber Essentials which is mandatory for all companies that want to be eligible for public sector contracts in the United Kingdom. 

Like ISO 27001, others are adopted voluntarily by many organizations as part of their strategy for enhancing cybersecurity. It might be good for your company to explore the options regarding compliance and the benefits that might bring to you. Consult with the cybersecurity experts you work with to find the best solution for your business.  

In today’s world, the investment in cybersecurity measures looks more needed with each passing month. More organizations are taking that step to ensure the protection of their business from constantly evolving cyber threats. If you want to do this too, give us a call. Our experienced team has worked with many clients across various industries and managed to provide outstanding results! 

The post What do small and medium businesses have to know before investing in cybersecurity? appeared first on 3Cyber-Sec.

Patients’ private data and healthcare records can be considered sensitive information to be stored and managed carefully. And yet the fact remains that most organizations in the sector don’t have the needed preparation to face the cyber threats ahead of them. The CyberPeace Institute had analyzed data from cyberattacks in the healthcare industry in 33 countries, showing over 11 million breaches and cases when systems went offline in almost 80% of the cases. There also have been cases of canceled surgeries and misdirected ambulance calls. Not something you want happening to you or some of your loved ones. 

What are the biggest cybersecurity challenges in the healthcare industry?

Many would agree that the primary focus of healthcare is not cybersecurity. And while that is true, the times we live in make it a subject that needs attention and action. However, for healthcare organizations (especially the ones in the public sector), many challenges are barriers to adapting effective cybersecurity measures: 

• Lack of knowledge about the subject from management and staff; 
• Connected medical devices like pacemakers have limited or no security at all;
• Challenge in finding and retaining high-quality IT talent within the organization; 
• Old technology and software that increase the chance of vulnerabilities; 
• In a busy and stressful work environment where saving lives is a priority, it is difficult to find time to implement cybersecurity measures in the daily operations of a hospital or any other similar organization. 

There is another thing to consider here. The data that healthcare organizations store is very appealing to hackers, and it is easily sellable on the darknet. Medical records, for example, are assets of interest to people who want to commit insurance fraud. All of that should signal the red flag that everyone in the industry should make cybersecurity a strategic priority. 

What are the biggest cybersecurity threats for healthcare organizations?

The truth is that the major cyber threats are relatively common for all organizations that handle sensitive data and have a hard time keeping it safe. Most hackers rely on human errors or technology with low cyber defense to be able to carry out a cyberattack:

• Data from wearable medical devices that patients use can be accessed, monitored, and stolen. Some medical experts have even gone further saying that hackers can interfere with the functionality of such wearables; 
• Phishing attacks are the first one on the list of the biggest cybersecurity threats; 
• Access to devices from a person who is not authorized; 
• Cyber attack due to network vulnerability; 
• Ransomware and malware attacks; 
• Data breach due to weak password management; 
• Hacked devices. 

These are some specific cases that can be a potential entry point for any hackers. However, any organization has individual vulnerabilities in its cyber defense that need attention and supervision. 

What can organizations in the sector do to be better protected? 

While there is legislation to protect sensitive patient data, healthcare organizations should know what they can do to improve their cybersecurity. For this to happen, the people in charge of any such entity should prioritize creating a solid cyber defense and maintaining it constantly. And while the tailor-made approach is the best way to go when addressing the specific needs of every organization in the industry, several universal good practices exist: 

• Consult with an external cybersecurity expert about your needs; 
• Conduct vulnerability and risk assessment to determine the main weak points; 
• Invest in staff awareness training about the primary cyber threats like phishing; 
• Adopt practices for secure management of data; 
• Enforce secure device management  by implementing 2-factor authentication practices; 
• Invest in the safety of your network infrastructure; 
• Work with reliable 3rd party vendors. 

However, the first and most crucial step is finding a reliable expert to help with your cybersecurity needs. From that point on, you can work together with the experts on your organization’s cybersecurity posture.

We at 3Cyber-Sec have worked with many businesses and organizations and helped them strengthen their cyber defenses. We are sure we can do the same for you. Just give us a call, and we will arrange a meeting! 

The post Cybersecurity in the healthcare industry – what you should know? appeared first on 3Cyber-Sec.

We don’t have to look back too far in the past to find a significant cyber attack. Less than three months ago, Harbour Plaza Hotel Group suffered a data leak that affected more than one million customers. At the beginning of the year, the Montreal Tourism Agency was also the victim of a cyber attack. 

Why does it matter to tourists if companies in the tourism and hospitality industry invest in cybersecurity?

In the text above there is a great example of why you as a regular tourist should care if the hotel you are staying in or the tour agency that is organizing your trip has proper cybersecurity defenses. Businesses operating in this industry have to understand that well-paying customers are more and more cautious about their personal cybersecurity. That means: 

• They would not want to visit and stay in places that neglect the topic of cybersecurity
• They won’t like to share WiFi connectivity with another 1000 people, as some of them may attack them; 
• They will demand to know what cybersecurity measures have been adopted by the tourist organization that is handling their personal and financial data. 

Keep in mind that any potential failure to protect the sensitive information of your clients will result in future reputational, legislative, and financial damages beyond any investment in cybersecurity you will make today. 

What are the main cyber threats for companies in the tourism industry?

With tourism being one of the industries that suffered from the pandemic in the last few years, the biggest threat would come from not investing in cybersecurity at all. There are a lot of giant corporations in the sector and a vast number of small and medium businesses that also handle sensitive data from their customers. And while not all of them require debit or a credit card for online payment, all are required by law to ask for your personal information. 

Challenges related to cyber attacks in the tourism industry are relevant to all others that handle sensitive data and handle customers online, and they include:

• Data breachers; 
• Ransomware and malware attacks;
• DDoS attacks.

What are some of the measures regarding cybersecurity that companies in the sector can adopt? 

This industry relies on a lot of seasonal workers for the summer or the winter season (depending on the tourist destination). Other places are destinations for year-round visits, but we doubt that the majority of the employees will have cybersecurity awareness. 

• A good first step will be providing them with training and giving them a manual that covers the basics: 
  • how to create and store strong passwords; 
  • how to browse the internet carefully and avoid suspicious websites;
  • how to detect spam/scam emails and potential phishing emails and messages on social media. 
• Adapt basic rules like:
  • Proper network segmentation;
  • Continuous security checks in the frame of Vulnerability scannings.

However, keep in mind that those are skills and knowledge that all of us should have today. A responsible company has to invest in prevention measures if it doesn’t want to face the risk of being hacked. A good first step will be consulting with cybersecurity experts about your needs and hiring a vSICO that will start working on the company’s 360-cyber defense. 

Tourism and cybersecurity – a story with a happy end

Yes, there are a lot of cybersecurity challenges for the tourism and hospitality sector today. However, this industry embraces and adapts to innovation and change. We see that the industry was one to adopt digital tools for its daily operations and marketing in the last 10 years. We believe it will be the same with cybersecurity – the start may be rough and begin in the big hotels, but eventually, it will get to the small family-owned businesses. And we think this is going to be sooner rather than later. If you need help with the creation of the 360-cyber defense of your company just give us a call! 

The post Why is investing in cybersecurity for the tourism and hospitality industry essential today? appeared first on 3Cyber-Sec.

Make cybersecurity a strategic priority

It is essential to allocate finance and resources and make cybersecurity a top priority for your company. Hopefully, once you have been hacked, you now understand how severe and urgent is the need to take action. The first step in doing so is to be prepared to make cybersecurity a priority for everyone in the organisation – from yourself to all regular members of staff. Creating a culture of cybersecurity awareness among all employees is a crucial aspect of dealing with the problem. 

Build the cybersecurity posture of your organisation

Creating your cybersecurity defenses is not something you can do on your own. It can be a challenge for corporations to have an internal cybersecurity team. We recommend finding and hiring an external expert company in the field that has a good reputation and can deliver the services you need. Once this is done, you will start discussing your cybersecurity strategy. Several good practices should be done: 

1. Hiring a vCISO. 

That is vital in making cybersecurity like any other business process in daily operations. The virtual chief information security officer can manage everything from determining the risks for your business to helping with achieving specific compliance standards; 

2. Staff awareness training

You need to provide your employees with the skillset to detect cyber threats. A lot of cyber attacks are due to human error. From weak passwords to phishing emails – those are risks that can be avoided if people working for you have the needed knowledge and awareness; 

3. Vulnerability assessment

It can help you detect your organization’s network system, IT applications, and infrastructure security vulnerabilities. Vulnerability assessment is done by performing security scans manually or with the help of automated tools for testing. 

4. Penetration testing

It is a step after vulnerability assessment. This measure will help you understand potential vectors of cyber attacks that hackers might use to infiltrate your systems. 

Most importantly, you should realize that once you start, you should maintain your efforts. Cybersecurity is not a one-time thing that you do and never repeat. And it is a constant and ongoing process. 

Create a strong cybersecurity culture within your company

That probably won’t happen overnight but is very important. Every person you employ should be aware they have a role to play in maintaining the excellent cybersecurity of the company. Of course, there are some things you can do to help the process, which go beyond hiring a vCISO and training your staff. 

Explain to everyone how important is their commitment. Communication will make employees feel essential and commit easier to their responsibility regarding cybersecurity. Their roles might be minor, but they are vital. Increasing cyber awareness should be the first thing you start. And as a business owner or a manager, you have to lead by example. In that way, the others will follow. 

If you need help in improving your cybersecurity – give us a call.  We are a trusted partner for many businesses in various industries, and we would love to help you as well. 

The post Have you been hacked? What should you do to prevent it from happening again? appeared first on 3Cyber-Sec.

Which are the most common mistakes from people that lead to data breaches or hacking?

Ordinary staff members and even people from the top management of a company can be victims of a scam that leads to a breach in the systems. Every case is unique by itself. However, there are some common mistakes that people make, which costs them a lot. 

Weak password management

Unfortunately, this is something very common. A lot of people don’t take the time to create strong passwords and change them frequently. On the other hand, storing them is another potential vulnerability. Here are some tips on how you can improve this: 

• Create strong and complicated passwords that you change at least once every six months; Passphrases are good option.
• Don’t use the same password for two or more accounts; 
• Research and use reliable and secure password management software; 
•  It is not recommended to save your password automatically in your browser; 
• Enable two-factor identification and additional security questions when this is possible.

Every company should provide guidelines to the employees on how to create and store their passwords and secrete codes. It is good if those rules are followed by them for their accounts as well – like social media, private email, etc. 

Inability to detect phishing emails and messages

This is another big issue regarding staff members. In many organisations people don’t have the needed knowledge to spot and detect more complicated phishing emails. Here are some universal ways to do that:  

• Check the domain where the email comes from. Often by trying to imitate the website of mobile operators or financial institutions, the hackers create a copy of their standard email template or even of their websites. You can check the domain name and compare it to the real one. Often there is a very small difference that you can notice; 
• No legitimate institution or organisation where you have registration, account, or subscription will ask you to enter the details of your account or credit/debit card in email. This is a huge red flag; 
• If someone on social media is sending you a link with no description or with a weird-looking one send them a message back and ask specifically what is this link and where it will redirect you when you click on it; 
• You can never be too careful – if you have any doubts about a certain email or message consult with the security officer in our organisation. It might be a false alarm but it is better to be safe than sorry. 

Failing to update devices with much-needed software upgrades

This is also a classic case. Very often companies issue patches or software updates that fix vulnerabilities in older versions of the software. Usually, they inform all users to update their devices with the latest version to eliminate the chance of security breaches. However, not everyone listens to them. 

A while back we told you about the big leak of VPN Account Passwords From 87,000 Fortinet FortiGate Devices. It was possible because many users failed to update their devices and although the bug was fixed in May 2019 it remained one of the biggest exploits for hackers in 2020 as well. 

That suggests that a lot of the clients of Fortinet may not have followed the instructions to upgrade their devices and that left them vulnerable. And this is not a standalone case. Such negligence can bring a lot of trouble. 

What can be done to prevent all of this? 

Nobody is perfect. People are going to make mistakes. It is inevitable. However, there are several ways you can help your employees have the needed skills and knowledge to minimize such errors and contribute to the cybersecurity of the whole organisation: 

• Invest in staff awaraness training – make sure that the people that work for you are familiar and can identify information security threats and handle them accordingly. Like every other thing, this works best when the solution is tailor-made for the needs of the specific company;
• Raise awaraness about cybersecurity – get the people involved and help them understand that cybersecurity is important to your company as all other everyday activities and business operations; 
• Provide resources and guidelines – the average person is not a cybersecurity expert and doesn’t have to be. However, you can help them by providing simple guidelines they can follow and giving them useful resources that won’t make following the security recommendations a burden. 

There is not a magic pill that can make human errors go away. What you can do is invest in staff training and make cybersecurity a strategic priority for your company and staff. If you need help with that just give us a call. Our expert team will be happy to help!

The post What are the most common human errors that allow hackers to penetrate your company’s system? appeared first on 3Cyber-Sec.

Digi News shows that IoT devices have been subject to 1,5 billion cyberattacks in 2021 alone. And the number is increasing as time passes. A report from Zscaler from 2020 showed a 700% increase in attacks on IoT devices since 2019. The article mentioning the word states that in 2021, only 24% of the information exchange in IoT was encrypted. 

What are the main weaknesses in the security of IoT devices? 

As data shows, there is a high risk of IoT devices, in general, being compromised by a cyber attack. Here are the principal vulnerabilities they have that may lead to such dire outcomes. 

Weak link #1: Bad password protection

“There is nothing new under the sun”, as we say in Bulgaria. Weak password protection has been a problem in cybersecurity for many years now, and it has transitioned to IoT.  

Weak link #2: Bad network security

Another point of entry for hackers can come from the poor security of network services, and it gives access to sensitive information from IoT devices. 

Weak link #3: Failing to update with the latest security patches

That is another common mistake that is not related to IoT devices alone. There is often a security breach of devices with out-of-date software versions. Usually, hackers use such vulnerabilities and attack devices that run old software versions with weaknesses that have not been patched. We told you a story several months ago about such a case. 

There are other cyber threats to IoT devices like AI-based attacks and vulnerabilities in the software and applications that run on or communicate with the devices themselves. 

How can we ensure protection on IoT devices?

Every problem has a solution. There are many ways to ensure protection. However, in many cases, we must start with the basics. Here is what companies that use IoT devices can do to improve their cybersecurity: 

• Train your staff – as you see, a central weak spot comes from poor password protection. To avoid that, you should conduct staff awareness training and enhance the skills and knowledge of your employees about IoT cyber threats and how to deal with them; 
• Find vulnerabilities and patch them up – it is better to find the weak spots in your systems before the hackers. You can do so with a combination of vulnerability assessment and penetration testing;
• Continue to invest and maintain a good cybersecurity posture – cybersecurity is a constant and ongoing process. As new cyber threats develop over time, companies must stay updated with their cybersecurity measures. Maintaining good cybersecurity is an essential investment today.

The number of cyberattacks on IoT devices (and not only on them) will continue to grow in the future, and the threats will become more in volume and numbers and more complicated. You can stay protected by working with experienced professionals like 3Cyber-Sec. If you need help with your cybersecurity, please contact us today! 

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Which industries suffer from cyber attacks the most? 

And although every business and organisation is a potential target for cyber attacks, some industries are preferred targets for hackers, and that makes cybersecurity measures for them more essential. 

Finance 

There are no surprises that this is the first one on the list. Financial institutions are like the cherry on top for hackers for several reasons. One is that they store sensitive data like their clients’ personal and financial records. Data and trends show that players in the industry will face many challenges in the future as wearable devices are used as a payment method, and a lot of the financial services are going online. This only leads to an increase in the volume of cyber attacks on the financial sector players, which is a big concern for investors and institutions. We have outlined the leading cybersecurity threats for them in a previous article on our blog.

Healthcare

Since digital technology and wearable devices entered the healthcare industry, cyberattacks have increased. Traditionally, hospitals and healthcare providers are not so great regarding their cyber defense. Only in 2019 did data breaches put a heavy financial toll on the sector resulting in losses of around four billion dollars. Health records are valuable information that has the attention of many hackers. And when you have such assets in combination with lousy cybersecurity measures, the trouble is just waiting to happen. 

Energy

The energy industry is a vital industry essential for every country in the world. Energy networks can be the target of cyber attacks. It is one of the traditional sectors, part of the massive transition to the digital era. However, this gives more exposure to cyber threats. In recent years we have seen major cyber attacks like Crash Override (Ukraine, 2016), GreyEnergy in 2015, and Operation Sharpshooter in 2018. Energy companies and networks can be prime targets in cyberwarfare, a hot topic following the recent events in Ukraine. 

Education

Personal data of students and staff and intellectual property are just two reasons higher education entities can be a subject of cyber attacks. Last year, organisation in the sector reported a 75% increase in the volume of attacks compared to 2020. On top of the list are data breaches, ransomware, DDoS attacks, and more. Institutions and education providers have a responsibility to strengthen their cybersecurity. 

What is the common thing between these industries?

The industries mentioned above have some similarities that make them perfect targets of cyber attackers: 

• They saw rapid digital transition that led to more digital exposure of their systems; 
• They store valuable and sensitive data; 
• They are part of the core sectors of a city or country; 
• Most of them don’t have proper cybersecurity measures adopted in recent years. 

Prevention is the best strategy

To be prepared for the cyber threats out there, organisations in the industries mentioned above (and any other business for that matter) can take measures for prevention that will build up their 360-cyber defense. Such are: 

1. Hiring a vSICO; 
2. Penetration testing; 
3. Vulnerability assessment; 
4. Staff-awareness training. 

These will help your organisation strengthen its cybersecurity posture and reduce the chance of a successful cyber attack on its systems and networks. If you have some questions or need some support in boosting your cybersecurity, feel free to write to us! 

The post In which Industries cybersecurity is essential today? appeared first on 3Cyber-Sec.

What are the main highlights of the past two years?

When we started our company, we were three experts in cybersecurity that were well known for their experience and knowledge. However, it was the first time we came behind a corporate name together. When 3Cyber-Sec was born, there was a lot of optimism and determination. There were many happy moments like: 

• The time we landed our first client; 
• Each time the team grew with new members; 
• When we obtained each new certification as a company or personally.

Two years is not a long period. It is either a short one. We see it as the foundation that will set the course of 3Cyber-Sec for the future. For the past 24 months, we managed to: 

• Acquire two certifications as a company, and five on a personal level;
• Work with nine international clients, most of which leaders and innovators in their field of work; 
• We created successful B2B relations with British companies; 
• Our team grew in terms of numbers and expertise. 

All of this will not be possible without our trusted partners and clients. Here are some of the most interesting 

Clients we have consulted in the field of cybersecurity

Being a cybersecurity expert is like being a doctor. Each case you work on is different and unique, and you have to have a particular approach to every situation. Here are two of the most exciting projects we have worked on: 

We trained the National Revenue Agency of Bulgaria’s InfoSec Team to improve its penetration testing skills with comprehensive training.

In 2020, NRA’s current cybersecurity staff had a lot on their hands. They had to ensure the cyber resilience of the agency’s networks and systems to avoid and minimize any potential incidents in the future. To do this, they needed to:

• Enhance the cybersecurity awareness of the agency’s InfoSec team;
• А key goal was to ensure that the InfoSec understood the different cyberattack approaches and gain that knowledge through practical experience;
• A priority for the NRA was getting a clear view of potential cyberattack impacts. 

We developed a customized training environment and sessions tailored for the NRA needs for less than four weeks. They were also aligned with the specifics of the technology toolset used by the institution. 

Based on the requirements, our expert team outlined critical areas for the training and created a list of practical tasks and challenges,  NRA’s InfoSec team to ethically hack the agency and thus better understand possible attack tactics. 

Once they prepared the training materials, we conducted a 5-day penetration testing course in an isolated technological environment. The training schedule included theoretical sessions with lecturers and practical workshops guided by our team.

We helped Fraport Twin Star Airport Management achieve compliance with an essential national standard

That is one of the clients we will continue working with in the future. Back when we started our partnership, “Fraport Twin Star Airport Management” AD had to review the state and current level of security of IT systems and equipment deemed highly critical for national security and the company’s business. The airport operator needed experienced cybersecurity experts to execute regular advanced vulnerability scans and checks.

Our first meeting was in the middle of October 2020. The reason was the legislative and regulatory requirements Fraport had to cover by the end of the same year. They had to cover and report the national regulatory requirements for minimum requirements concerning network and information security. And this needed to be done in around eight weeks.

We provided visibility to the weak spots in cybersecurity that “Fraport Twin Star Airport Management” AD was unaware of and managed to help them cover the regulation requirements and achieve compliance. 

The story goes on

We are grateful for what we have accomplished. We want to thank our friends and family for the support and our loyal clients and partners who believed in our expert team! 

In the future, we plan to expand our range of services and create new long-lasting partnerships with companies from Europe. 

We will continue to grow, develop and reach new heights together!

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