Imagine your coffee machine brewing your perfect cup just as you wake up, your office lights adjusting automatically to optimize productivity, or your delivery truck predicting traffic jams and rerouting for a faster journey. This isn't science fiction; it's the power of the Internet of Things (IoT), and it's poised to explode in 2024.
The American Dental Association (ADA) is calling on all dental practices, especially oral and maxillofacial surgeons, to remain vigilant against cyberattacks. On May 6, 2024, the FBI informed the ADA and the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons (AAOMS) of a credible cybersecurity threat targeting these practices.
In a recent statement, AT&T, the largest telecommunications company in the United States, disclosed the discovery of a dataset for sale on the dark web containing information on approximately 7.6 million current AT&T account holders and 65.4 million former users, affecting a total of about 73 million accounts.
Source: Vector Choice - URS Preferred Partner
The Need for Robust Data Backup: Insights and Best Practices
In today's digital landscape, businesses face various threats to their data integrity, ranging from natural disasters to cyber-attacks and human error. As highlighted by Avast's recent findings on disaster recovery, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are particularly vulnerable, with 60% of data backups failing to fully succeed. Even more concerning is the fact that half of the attempts to recover data from these backups are unsuccessful, resulting in an average downtime of 79 minutes, costing roughly $84,650 for every hour of disruption.
Understanding the Common Causes of Backup Failures:
1. Reliability of Backup Products: The adage "you get what you pay for" holds true in the realm of backups. Free or inexpensive solutions may lack the robust features needed for secure and reliable data backup.
2. Suboptimal Backup Timing: Poorly scheduled backups, especially during peak traffic periods or when data is being heavily modified, pose a risk of incomplete data capture.
3. Compatibility Issues: As businesses evolve, so do their systems and software. However, new systems may not always be fully compatible with existing backup solutions, leading to data saving and restoration challenges.
4. Human Error: Incorrectly configured backup parameters, accidental file deletions, and oversight of backup schedules and alerts can contribute to backup failures.
The Importance of Effective Data Backup and Restoration:
In light of these challenges, implementing best practices for data backup and restoration is crucial for ensuring business continuity and mitigating risks:
1. Choose a Reliable Backup Solution: Avoid blindly opting for well-known backup software brands. Instead, conduct thorough research to identify a solution that aligns with your business needs. Consider factors such as data recovery speed, downtime implications, and compliance requirements, especially in regulated industries like healthcare.
2. Adhere to the 3-2-1 Backup Rule: Embrace the industry-standard 3-2-1 backup rule, which recommends maintaining three copies of data in two different formats, with one copy stored off-site. This approach minimizes the risk of data loss in case of a catastrophic event.
3. Monitor Backup Status Daily: Ensure that someone within your organization, whether yourself or a designated IT team member, checks the backup status daily. Promptly address any incomplete backups to avoid potential data loss.
4. Conduct Regular Restore Tests: Regularly conduct simulated data restoration exercises to verify the integrity and effectiveness of your backup system. This proactive approach ensures that your backups are functional and can be relied upon in times of crisis.
In conclusion, data backups are not a "set and forget" task but a critical aspect of business continuity planning. By implementing robust backup solutions and adhering to best practices, businesses can safeguard their data against unforeseen disruptions and minimize the impact of potential disasters.
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Ransomware has long been a significant threat to businesses, causing disruptions, financial losses, and reputational damage. However, cybercriminals are constantly evolving their tactics, and the recent emergence of Ransomware 2.0 presents businesses with new challenges and necessitates a reevaluation of their security posture.
Zero Trust has emerged as a prominent strategy for safeguarding digital assets, drawing considerable attention for its efficacy in modern cybersecurity. This paradigm, which diverges from conventional security models reliant on perimeter defenses, is also recognized for its potential impact on workforce productivity. Delving into this methodology illuminates its principles and potential to fortify employee performance.
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Emily Reed is responsible for safeguarding the digital assets of a thriving healthcare organization renowned for its advanced digital technology solutions.
On a busy morning, Emily’s routine was disrupted by an urgent message from her security team. They were made aware of other healthcare organizations that had recently succumbed to a critical vulnerability that attacked their MOVEit Transfer systems. A remote command execution flaw, this vulnerability can allow escalated privileges and potential unauthorized access to MOVEit server environments. Emily quickly gathered her team to examine the evolving situation.
Fortunately, Emily was aware of this vulnerability. She had preemptively purchased Ridge Security’s RidgeBot automated penetration testing product, recently upgraded with new plugins that automatically detect and exploit the MOVEit vulnerability.
Your website is more than just a virtual storefront - it's a gateway to your brand, a hub for customer interactions, and a potential minefield for data privacy breaches. Whether you're a bustling manufacturing plant or a local legal firm, navigating the ever-evolving landscape of data privacy regulations can feel like walking a tightrope. But fear not business owners! Partnering with Vector Choice can be your key to achieving compliance and peace of mind.
Corvus Insurance, the leading cyber underwriter powered by a proprietary AI-driven cyber risk platform, today released its Q4 2023 Ransomware Report. Featuring data collected from ransomware leak sites, the report shows that while Q4 attacks were down slightly from Q3 2023, ransomware activity for the year surpassed 2022 totals by 68 percent.
The payment card landscape is a battlefield, and in 2024, the armor gets an upgrade. Brace yourselves, business owners, because PCI 4.0, the latest iteration of data security standards, is charging towards mandatory compliance. But unlike a surprise audit, this isn't something to fear - it's an opportunity to shield your business from data breaches and build trust with your customers.
2024 is looming, and for businesses handling customer data, it brings a significant regulatory shift: the amended FTC Safeguards Rule takes full effect on May 13, 2024. This isn't just a minor housekeeping update - it's a game-changer for data security and privacy practices. So, whether you're a small startup or a sprawling enterprise, it's time to buckle up and understand what's coming down the cybersecurity pike.
As digital transformation accelerates, insurers face new challenges, notably the rise of AI risk insurance. This article from Program Business Marketplace examines AI Risk’s implications for the insurance sector, drawing parallels with familiar cybersecurity risks faced by carriers, agents, and brokers.
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