When we ponder cyber-attacks, our thoughts immediate think of businesses being the victim. For many instances that is the case – a business is hit with ransomware, or a data breach and they are scrambling to resolve the situation and reduce the damages. But how do these events impact individuals like you and me?
Data Breaches
When a company that you have done business with experiences a data breach, you could be at risk. Depending on the data stolen, your payment details, personally identifiable information, and/or user credentials could have been compromised. When a data breach occurs, it is the company’s responsibility to notify customers; yet, that may not always happen.
This is why it is important to be vigilant about changing your account passwords on a quarterly basis and monitoring your bank statements and credit activity for fraudulent actions.
Malware Attacks
Before we delve into this, it’s important to explain malware is any form of malicious activity. It could be a virus, ransomware, cryptomining, and more. Often times a malware attack will lead to two things – network disruptions and/or data breaches. Since we covered the latter already, let’s discuss how a company’s downed network could impact you or me.
In a recent example, United Healthcare suffered a malicious attack and now patients across the nation are incapable of getting their prescriptions filled because the company’s systems cannot process the request. Another example would be a telecommunications company experiencing network outages, leaving users incapable of communicating with their devices.
The Unknown
What if something happened to a company that provides services, we use daily? We’ve all experienced a brief internet outage, or a glitch in power. When that happens, we can call the provider and they’ll give an estimated time of restoration. With cyber-attacks, that timeline becomes uncertain. When we are talking about vital services like electricity or water, unknown timelines can create significant fear.
This is why it is important to understand current cyber threats and the red flags to avoid them. Whether you’re an employee at a bank, water treatment facility, school, or own your own business, knowing what to look to avoid an attack could save more than just the organization.