TECHDIGEST – The world is becoming more concerned about the rate at which individuals, organisations and governments lose financial resources, intellectual property and personal identities to cybercriminals. The cost of cybercrime to the global economy will exceed any potential social and economic losses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the World Economic Forum.

According to Kaspersky, Nigeria experienced 1.05 million cybercrimes in the second quarter of 2022, an increase of 174 per cent. Globally, Nigerians were the third-most victims of cyber attacks.

To stem the rising rate of cybercrime in the country, the National Assembly passed the Cybercrime Act in 2015. However, the legislation has not been able to address the unprecedented rate of cyber attacks in the country.

The rapid acceptance of digitalization across industries and enterprises brought about by the development of cutting-edge technology. Data has become increasingly valuable. The ever-increasing amount of private and sensitive information that is stored and transferred online makes it absolutely necessary to take precautions to safeguard your data from potential security breaches.

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CISCO once predicted that the number of networked devices on earth will triple the number of humans by 2023, which will result in 60 per cent of all digital frauds occurring on mobile devices.

Hackers now have more avenues to breach people’s data due to the widespread usage of technology in daily life.

Notwithstanding the protections that organisations have put into place to protect their data, millions of people, individuals and businesses are still at risk of having their data compromised as a result of poor password practises, human error and other circumstances.

These are 5 frequent reasons for data breaches to help you understand how they occur.

Loss of device – Cybercriminals are quite calculative in their actions and can even take things like laptops, phones, storage devices, etc. from the unwary. Unencrypted data on stolen devices is easily accessible to thieves once they have access to them.

Human error – Humans are prone to making mistakes. A massive data breach might result from sending the wrong person a document, an email or a file. Human error has resulted in significant losses for businesses and people that have taken years to recover from.

Phishing – Phishing is one of the many methods hackers steal sensitive data. Phishing is a form of social engineering in which unknowing victims are tricked into doing a task that appears to be in their best interest by fraudulent emails or websites. Once these links are visited, hackers gain access to crucial data and can launch an attack.

Weak passwords – It is a normal habit for people to want to use the same password for various platforms; however, this is a horrible idea and one of the simplest ways for data breaches to occur. People also employ passwords that are easily guessed by hackers.

Spyware – Spyware is a type of malware created by cybercriminals with the express purpose of stealing data from victims without their knowledge or permission. Unknowingly, spyware can be downloaded from the internet and serve as a go-between for the hacker and the victim’s computer.

How to safeguard your data safe

To prevent a breach of data privacy, a comprehensive approach strategy that includes everyone who interacts with a system is essential. Every employee, every home gadget that interacts with a system, and every data breach can happen anywhere within a corporation.

Below are some best practices to tighten security and keep your data protected:

Use strong passwords

We have previously discussed how insecure passwords might allow hackers to access sensitive data. Using strong passwords with a variety of characters is crucial to developing good password habits. It is against best practices to protect your data to use the same password across many devices or platforms.

Two-factor authentication

When two-factor authentication is enabled for login screens, fraudsters must overcome an additional barrier to entry. Two-factor authentication may be turned on for most applications and major platforms, which greatly reduces the risk of a data breach.

Regular software updates

Patches and upgrades to software are crucial. Companies and developers regularly issue updates to their software to address security issues and close potential vulnerabilities. Both individuals and businesses should update their systems as quickly as possible to the newest versions.

Educate employees

Employees should be made aware of the dangers of social engineering attacks and how to protect themselves from them at all times. Organising training with the IT department can display examples of dubious emails or links to protect staff from becoming victims.

Back up data

Make regular backups of your data. Having a current backup of your data can help you retrieve your information and get back up and running fast in the event that your device is lost, stolen, or infected with malware. You should routinely make copies of your data and keep those copies in a safe place (such an external hard drive or cloud storage service) to avoid the risk of data loss or theft.

Data encryption

If devices are correctly encrypted, hackers would not be able to access the data even if they are stolen. Encrypting private data is crucial.

Use security software

Install a reliable firewall and anti-virus programme. Malware, viruses, and other security risks can be thwarted with the aid of antivirus and firewall software. Choose antivirus and firewall programmes with high ratings and user satisfaction and keep them up to date for maximum security.

After going through everything there is to know about data security and breaches, it is important you take deliberate steps to protect your data. The data of a company or an individual may cause great harm if it falls into the wrong hands. Around 110 organisations in Nigeria are under investigation for alleged data breaches, according to the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau.

You can keep your personal and sensitive information safe by adhering to these simple practices and helping to protect your data from security risks. Taking these precautions can considerably lower your risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime, even if no security measures are 100 per cent effective.

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TECHDIGEST – Kaspersky research highlights that malware is rife across Africa with various countries exhibiting strong growth in all malware types in the first half of 2021, when compared to the same period last year. This is a 5% increase in the region, as cybercriminals and hackers continue to focus on African countries considering digital transformation advancements and the increase in remote working resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overall, 4 countries account for 85 million attacks, with South Africa being the most targeted (32 million attacks), followed by Kenya (28.3 million), Nigeria (16.7 million) and Ethiopia (8 million). All countries but Kenya saw the relative growth of all malware attacks. Ethiopia and Nigeria have seen an increase of 20% and 23% respectively and South Africa an increase of 14%, while Kenya’s number of attacks decreased by 13%.

“Even though the scourge of malware has always been of concern, the past 12-months have highlighted how hackers are refocusing their efforts to compromise consumer and corporate systems and gain access to critical data and information. Given the growth of digital transformation across Africa since last year, the continent has become an attractive target for those looking to exploit a lack of user education and cybersecurity understanding. This has contributed to the large number of personal devices still not having any form of cybersecurity software installed,” says Bethwel Opil, Enterprise Sales Manager at Kaspersky in Africa.

“Malware can get onto a device in several ways. For example, clicking on an infected link or advert, opening an attachment in a spam email, or downloading a compromised app. This means proactive malware protection is essential to safeguard individual users and corporates against these threats,” adds Opil.

There are several best practices to consider when it comes to malware protection. Kaspersky recommends the following:

Install anti-virus software on every device that connects to the Internet. Kaspersky recommends Kaspersky Security Cloud (https://bit.ly/3gdPMKi).
Only download applications from trusted sites. Even then, always check the app permissions and, if certain things do not make sense, do not install the programme.
Never click on unverified links especially when coming from suspected spam emails, messages, or suspicious-looking Websites.
Keeping operation systems and applications always updated with the latest patches.

Be wary of using free Wi-Fi at coffee shops, restaurants, and other places as hackers can snoop for unprotected devices.

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TECH DIGEST – Cybercriminals in America are getting richer. According to the Atlas VPN team’s analysis, Americans are estimated to lose $5.6 billion to internet crime by the end of 2021.

Cybercrime losses are expected to grow by nearly a third (32%) in 2021 from 4.2 billion in 2020. Compared to 2012, when cybercrime losses were 525.4 million, they are predicted to grow tenfold and reach record levels. By the end of this year, Americans will have lost 22.1 billion to cybercriminals since 2012.

The average growth rate of losses to internet crime in the US was estimated based on historical data from 2012 to 2020 provided by the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Why losses to internet crime are rising

One of the main reasons behind the rise in cybercrime losses is the growing number of internet users in the United States. The more people spend their time online, the more potential targets cybercriminals have.

In 2020, there were 284.05 million internet users in the US, which is about 86% of the country’s population. Based on Statista’s estimates, the number of internet users in the US will increase by over 1% to 286.98 million in 2021. Therefore, a higher number of potential victims is expected.

According to Ruth Cizynski, a cybersecurity researcher and author at Atlas VPN, “Ever-evolving cyber threats, the emergence of schemes that exploit the Covid-19 pandemic, and smaller cybersecurity budgets are just a few more factors contributing to the rise in monetary losses due to cybercrime in 2021.”

To read the full article, head over to: https://atlasvpn.com/blog/americans-projected-to-lose-over-5-billion-to-internet-crime-in-2021

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TECH DIGEST – National information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has alerted government agencies, businesses and citizens on new tricks deployed by cybercriminals to harvest their data.

NITDA’s mandate is to create frameworks for the planning, research, development, standardization, application, coordination, monitoring, evaluation and regulation of Information Technology practices in Nigeria.

In a tweet, the Agency explained how cybercriminals use Telegram Bots and Google Forms to automate phishing activities.

It is pronounced ‘fishing’ and that is basically what it means. It is a process where attackers deceitfully coerce or fish out the passwords and financial information from unsuspecting victims.

TechEconomy.ng recalls that during the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, Sophos Security Team exposed such scam used by cybercriminals to lure unsuspecting members of the public using fake United Nations (UN) and World Health Organisation (WHO) emails.

The scam pages look incredibly simple – and probably didn’t take the crooks more than a few minutes to put together – and visually effective.

The fake pages consist of the official, current home page of the World Health Organisation (WHO), with an unassuming popup form on top of it.

Well, NITDA alerted Nigerians on new tricks deployed by the cybercrime syndicates:

“Hackers use legitimate services such as Google Forms and Telegram Bot to obtain user data stolen during phishing attacks.

“Various ready-to-go platforms which are available on the darknet are used to manage the entire process of the phishing attack and keep financial records linked to them”.

The Agency said that such platforms are distributed under the cyber-as-a-service model, which subsequently leads to more groups conducting attacks.

“Cybercriminals mainly resort to free email services to obtain data of victims (all the info harvested on phishing websites is automatically sent) and gain access to the data of linked bank cards.

To stay safe, NITDA advised internet users should be mindful/avoid open-source software application.

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