Business is in the most disruptive times now, and cyber crimes are also at their peak, giving nightmares to business owners. Now cybersecurity is one of the priority agendas among all the members of a business.
Cybercrimes are emerging to second place, with 33% per cent of all types of business-related fraud. Cybercrimes are accelerated during the pandemic mainly because of remote work scenarios. Data breaches, ransomware attacks, BEC and phishing attempts have increased during remote work; according to the sources, over 60000 emails per day include COVID related attachments or malicious websites.

The following are some examples of socially engineered scams happening in this pandemic time.

• Mails camouflaged as government announcements: Various mails are focusing on phishing, carrying government institutions logos and unnatural links related to COVID-19.
• Fake medical advice: – Mails are sent as attachments by mentioning secure cures related to COVID-19 in the name of known medical providers.
• Charity: Mails in a phishing nature is sent in the name of a pandemic to solicit donation
• BEC Campaigns:- Campaigns are initiated to target the operationally affected industries.
• Unverified websites and mobile apps: During the pandemic, most of the companies are forced to adopt remote working and for this, they need to use various IT tools and platforms. Many companies have not checked the reliability of the platforms they are using, which exposes their company to cyberattacks and related frauds.
• As cyberattacks and frauds proliferate during the crisis, companies need to assess their cyber risks and prepare for potential threats regularly.

Cyber risks are unique to each company based on the activities and the data they are handling; like financial institutions and healthcare companies that handle a large amount of critical personal data. So, the company needs to explore the cyberattacks considering the following points;

1.Technical and operational activity and data attacks
2. Business and financial activity and data attacks
3. Regulatory and compliance-related attacks.

The risk of cyberattacks is high, which results in increased costs to the companies to safeguard them. But investment in resources and related tools for assessing and mitigating cyber risks might be less than the legal and financial consequences caused due to a cyber-attack.

CYBERSECURITY AUDIT
A security audit is a systematic evaluation of the security of a company’s information system by measuring how well it conforms to a set of established criteria. A thorough audit typically assesses the security of the system’s physical configuration and environment, software, information handling processes, and user practices. Security audits are often used to determine regulatory compliance, in the wake of legislation that specifies how organizations must deal with information.
Security audits, vulnerability assessments, and penetration testing are the three main types of security diagnostics. Each of the three takes a different approach and may be best suited for a particular purpose.

Security audits measure an information system’s performance against a list of criteria. Every organization should perform routine security audits to ensure that data and assets are protected. First, the audit’s scope should be decided and include all company assets related to information security, including computer equipment, phones, network, email, data and any access-related items, such as cards, tokens and passwords.

Then, past and potential future asset threats must be reviewed. Anyone in the information security field should stay apprised of new trends, as well as security measures taken by other companies. Next, the auditing team should estimate the amount of destruction that could transpire under threatening conditions. There should be an established plan and controls for maintaining business operations after a threat has occurred, which is called an intrusion prevention system. In the audit process, evaluating and implementing business needs are top priorities.

Once your audit has been carried out and the subsequent recommendations are delivered, the next step should be determined by what this package of advice contains. If there are major and looming threats to your organisation, then – budget permitting – implementing measures to tackle these concerns should be of paramount importance.

If you feel as if your IT security systems are in need of an expert assessment, get in touch with our team today to discuss your options and how we can help ensure your business remains safe, secure and up to date with all the latest apparatus and software.

How GSPU can help you?

GSPU has a perfect team and having the right expertise, we help many organizations in/ by;

• Developing a risk-based security strategy to strengthen the basic security coverage.
• Implementing and scaling out security controls.
• Provide training to the workforce.
• Choosing the right tools