“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link” — this idiom is often cited when it comes to cybersecurity because it is true.. Even if your organization has state-of-the-art firewalls and the latest antivirus software, your data would still be in danger if one of your top executives plugs a ransomware-infected thumb drive into their intranet-connected computer.

Macs have a reputation for having good cybersecurity, as Apple has made it their top priority to maintain the integrity of the Apple ecosystem. All things considered, Macs remain some of the most secure computing devices on the market. But that doesn’t mean that Macs are invulnerable.

Ransomware continues to be a major threat to businesses in 2021. The Sophos State of Ransomware 2021 report found that 37% of organizations suffered a ransomware attack in the past 12 months. While this number has dropped from 51% in 2020, the financial impact of an attack has more than doubled to $1.85 million in 2021 from $761,106 in 2020. This is largely because ransomware attacks have become more complex and targeted, making them harder to recover from.

Despite being widely used for authentication, passwords are by far the weakest link in cybersecurity today. With easy-to-remember and reused passwords especially vulnerable to a wide range of attacks, passwords alone do not provide adequate security for sensitive information and systems.

Maintaining and bolstering one’s cybersecurity strategy and infrastructure is critical for any business operating in the digital age. This becomes more important as business processes are migrated to digital platforms. The ease, flexibility, and convenience such platforms provide comes at the cost of unique security vulnerabilities that must be addressed, particularly if a business wants to take advantage of these benefits.

Phishing scams are one of the most common and insidious cyberattacks. They involve the use of deceptive messages to get victims to volunteer information to the attacker or click on malware-laced links. To increase the effectiveness of their attacks, cybercriminals will often assume the identity of a trustworthy individual or entity like a bank manager or a well-known organization.

The year 2020 was truly a disruptive year, not just because of the global health crisis but also due to the increase of cybersecurity threats. As more people shifted to digital platforms, attackers also got more creative with their schemes. In fact, cybersecurity experts predict that in 2021, businesses can experience a cyberattack incident every 11 seconds.

As if a pandemic wasn't enough to disrupt business operations, the year 2020 also brought in new and even bigger cybersecurity threats. And because cybersecurity threats will always be present and ever changing, businesses must be able to adapt in order to secure their data and protect their customers.

The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has upended the way organizations operate. Employees were ordered to work from home, while IT departments were forced to refocus their strategy toward protecting not just office IT systems but also a distributed workforce’s computers and networks.

Phishing scams, which use fraudulent emails to distribute malware and trick victims into giving away information, are the most common tactics used by cybercriminals today. After all, it’s much easier to exploit human ignorance and unpreparedness than the cutting-edge cybersecurity controls that many organizations have in place today.