What is the Cyber Team actively protecting you from? Four main threats.

1. State-Sponsored Attacks

  • State-sponsored cyber warfare (yes, think Russia) poses the most dangerous threats to political organizations
  • Nation-state actors are hired by countries to hack, attack, and often ask for ransom
  • They invest in advanced, customized targeting to penetrate weak infrastructure


2. Phishing

  • This method uses social engineering tricks (like sending emails that spoofing your boss or a brand you interact with) to make you reveal your password or other account details
  • An updated tactic does the same through SMS (known as smishing)
  • Voicemail bombing has also become popular
  • Take a look at the sender information and odd typos may alert you to phishy behavior


3. Password Attacks

  • Here hackers will systematically work through commonly-used passwords (you aren't using 123456, are you?) until gaining access to their targets
  • Further, if you are using the same password throughout all your online accounts, they will grab all your data in a New York minute
  • Best to up your password game and make them at least 8 characters. Hard to remember good passwords? Invest in a password manager
  • Insult yourself more by adding two-factor authentication to all your acounts


4. Device Infection

  • Oops, you mistakenly clicked on a malicious attachment and now you found your computer is acting wacky or slow
  • You may have inadvertently installed malware or trojanware on your device
  • And watch any software, apps, and browser extensions you are installing to ensure they are the correct ones you want to use


What else should you be on the lookout for?

1. Device Loss and Theft

  • Oh no, you accidentally left your device unattended and/or unlocked
  • Without password protection or drive encryption, all this data can become available to whoever gets their hands on the device
  • Put a lock password on devices

2. Eavesdropping

  • Adversaries can eavesdrop on digital calls and intercept messages in transit
  • Using your mobile device's standard phone and SMS apps are not encrypted and can be exploited
  • Check out Signal