During this particular period, many organisations had to stop or at best reduce their activity. Many had to urgently implement teleworking. As most organisations were not sufficiently prepared for this eventuality, hackers saw this crisis as a great opportunity. Indeed, the number of cybercriminal activities has been on the rise. Local authorities, companies, individuals and associations have all been affected by these fraudulent acts.
Many "fake sites" are still circulating (+400% increase in the first week of containment (1)). Criminals take advantage of people's legitimate fear of covid-19. Disinfectants, bottles of hydro-alcoholic gels, masks, etc. are offered for sale. Other sites, meanwhile, are intended to provide information on news related to the coronavirus, and propose, for example, that you make a donation to hospitals. The aim of these sites is to collect your personal data, including and especially your bank details...
It is therefore advisable to be more careful than usual with site addresses, links that may be circulating on social networks and any email from which you do not know the sender (and if you do know the sender, make sure that the message really does come from him or her or that it has not been hacked. Many emails appear to come from known senders but the address is slightly altered).
In November 2019, following a study conducted on cybersecurity, the expert Nicolas Fischbach (2) already warned about the importance of this: "While more than 89% of managers believe that their teams have never been so cyber-aware, it is not surprising to learn that some are losing sleep over their situation in this area because they know what is at stake for their company [...] At a time when cybersecurity is taking on an unprecedented strategic dimension for the growth of companies, the time has come for their leaders and for security managers to re-evaluate their cybersecurity strategy in order to protect themselves against breaches. "
This seems even more salient today, having experienced the containment and near-generalisation of telecommuting.
The French government, via its website, encourages different organisations to put in place a deconfinement cybersecurity action plan. To help you, 10 main measures have been listed (3):
Identify and analyse security incidents
Ensuring the proper functioning of its protection tools
Look for signs of compromise
Check and test backups
Carry out pending security updates
Refocusing data
Check mobile equipment before reconnecting it to the company network
Close external accesses that are no longer needed
Put an end to uses with derogatory risks
Quickly learn from the containment to deal with anything that needs to be dealt with
Cybersecurity is often perceived as a constraint, but it has become indispensable in a world that is becoming increasingly digital, and where cybercriminals are more and more numerous. Protecting your data, your company's data, and your customers' data is a necessity. If you can't handle it, or if you just want to make sure that everything will be reviewed by experts, to make sure you don't miss anything, if you need advice to guide you, or if you simply have questions, don't hesitate to contact us !
Good to know : CyberSecura has been approved by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region as part of its 'Industry of the Future' scheme, in the 'Cyber Security' category.
If you are established in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and you have an industrial activity, you can subsidise our cybersecurity services up to 50% ! More details on the region's website or from Mr. Frédéric Bellotti.(frederic.BELLOTTI@ene.fr).
Sources :
(1) According to France Bleu.
(2) Global CTO of the American company that publishes Forcepoint technology, specialising in data protection.
(3) https://www.cybermalveillance.gouv.fr/tous-nos-contenus/actualites/cybersecurite-preparer-la-reprise-dactivite-au-deconfinement
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