Studies show these are the most common techniques enabling cybercrime:
- Ransomware – Cybercriminals penetrate company networks, take over servers and encrypt vital operating data. To return access and control, perpetrators demand firms pay ransoms in the form of cryptocurrencies.
- Data Theft – Hackers obtain unauthorized access to private systems and steal proprietary information such as user IDs, passwords and other identifiers. These thieves then sell this data to other malefactors through brokers on the dark web, a series of servers containing encrypted content for illicit purposes. How valuable is this stolen info? Estimates run in the billions.
- Social Engineering – Cybercrooks deceive individuals into divulging confidential information – typically access credentials. This digital identification then becomes a primary lever for executing the first two digital crimes. Social fraudsters use automation to stage campaigns at immense scale with a broad scope of targets – from frontline workers to C-suite executives.
Each method of cyber scam evolves continually, benefiting from innovations in legitimate technologies such as generative AI. But each also relies on a basic pillar of IT infrastructure: email. Tech researchers speculate that nine of 10 cyber incursions originate via email.
That’s why business email compromise (BEC) is your company’s prime cybersecurity threat. How do you cope? We have proven policies, practices and protections to share.
Call us for a custom consultation.