CBWY Blog

It’s World Password Day, and much like every other day of the year, the state of password security is terrible. 

Despite repeated warnings from security experts and IT departments, “123456” is still the most common password for the last seven years, narrowly edging out “password.” The problem isn’t limited to easily guessed passwords: a recent study of remote workers found that 42 percent of employees physically write passwords down, 34 percent digitally capture them on their smartphones, and at least 20 percent admit to using the same password across multiple work accounts.  Enter the password manager: an application or service that consolidates the credentials for all a user’s accounts. If you stop reading here: Password managers are not failsafe

When it comes to protecting yourself online, there’s no silver bullet. Security software may block some incoming threats, VPNs can secure your communications, and sound data hygiene can prevent data leaks and breaches. But there’s one strategy that can both help to prevent and recover from otherwise catastrophic data incidents: Regularly backing up files and data.

Businesses across the country have had to adjust to their employees working from home. For many it was a last-minute scramble to adjust to what has become “the new normal” in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. As businesses and their employees settle into what could be for many a span of several weeks or months with a mandatory or recommended work from home order, organizations large and small face a potential company-killer: their surface of potentially vulnerable technology grew exponentially overnight.

Video conferencing platform Zoom has been crowded with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and the adoption of social distancing measures. Criminal cyber activity has grown alongside Zoom’s burgeoning user base. By far the most common issue for those attending virtual meetings is something called “Zoombombing,” where rowdy meeting crashers create chaos during meetings, letting loose a barrage of NSFW chat messages and porn imagery via Zoom’s Screen Share feature.

Home routers are typically an easy point of entry for hackers looking for sensitive data. With more employees working remotely, it’s now more important than ever to make sure their routers, and by proxy your company’s data, are protected. Ensure remote workers are more secure by following these five tips.

With many schools expected to be closed through the end of the school year, 30 million children and counting will be spending more time than ever on unsecured devices, apps, third-party educational sites and social media platforms. CyberScout urges the public to be aware of an increased risk of cyber-attacks targeting our nation’s youth and teach children to P-A-U-S-E and think about cyber-safety best practices every time they are online.

The Covid-19 pandemic has now caused many cities and municipalities to enact shelter in place orders. With the spread of novel coronavirus, daily life has been affected in unprecedented ways. Home-work and homeschooling measures mean that millions of Americans are using video conferencing for the first time. With this surge in new users, there will be many cybersecurity challenges. When it comes to flattening the curve of Covid-19, we know it’s important to be mindful about what you touch. The same goes for the online environment. 

During the evolving public health crisis surrounding COVID-19 (coronavirus), it is essential to remain vigilant in the days and weeks to come, online as well as out in the world. It is likely you are tracking several news sources on this growing epidemic—now defined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as a pandemic. While it is important to heed the CDC’s advice to wash our hands and keep social distance, we should also maintain our information and digital hygiene.

The number of stalkerware apps detected on smartphones increased in 2019, a full 60% over the previous year according to a new report released by Kaspersky Labs. The anti-virus company’s annual mobile malware report said stalkerware reports increased from 40,286 in 2019 to 67,500 in 2019, figures derived from data gleaned from Kaspersky product users that consented to provide statistical data for research purposes

You’ve probably heard of scammers targeting people with phishing emails, but what about vishing?

Vishing (or voice phishing) is similar to a phishing attack, but it is conducted over the phone. Here’s how it works: Scammers call targets from a phony (or spoofed) phone number, typically claiming to be representatives of banks or financial organizations alerting the target to an account issue. Other methods include loan offers, employment opportunities, and debt collectors, but the goals are generally the same: get the target to provide information about their financial accounts or send money.