Reno cybersecurity experts: WFH shift creating ‘more targets’ for hackers

by Kaleb Roedel

Adil Harchaoui has seen just about every way a business can leave itself vulnerable to a cyber attack. Two months ago, however, the founder of Reno-based Nevada IT Solutions (NVITS) double-clicked an attachment from a prospective client that made him do a double take.

“Their office manager sent us a spreadsheet of every single password they had ever created,” said Harchaoui, noting the importance of using encrypted password management tools instead of recording sensitive information on easy-to-hack documents. “It had everything from their LinkedIn profile (password) to their Instagram to their Charter-Spectrum access … pretty much everything under the sun.

“It was very shocking. We’re in an era where mistakes like this could be deadly — it could be the end of your business.”

He’s not kidding. From ransomware to phishing emails, cyber attacks have surged 63% since the coronavirus pandemic shook the global economy in March, according to the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA).

And if that stat doesn’t keep business owners and CEOs up at night, consider this: In Q2 of 2020, COVID-related attack detections increased by a staggering 605% compared to Q1, according to a report by antivirus software company McAfee, which reported observing an average of 419 new threats every minute during the second quarter.

“The impact is huge because the pandemic has exposed a lot of flaws that businesses, especially small businesses, are having,” Harchaoui said. “A lot of businesses are not really equipped with the whole working-from-home thing.”

Read entire article at NNBW: https://www.nnbw.com/news/reno-cybersecurity-experts-wfh-shift-creating-more-targets-for-hackers/