Quick Intelligence Blog

If you think your business is too small to be of interest to a cybercriminal, think again.  While big companies make the headlines for their data breaches, small companies are also an ideal target for hackers.  "Small businesses can be a really sweet spot for cybercriminals. They have more money to steal than a consumer and less security in place than a large business," said Kevin Haley, director of security response at Symantec. 

There is no doubt that ransomware continues to still be considered a big threat to businesses. The UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) warns in this report that the overall threat from cybercrime has increased during the past year, with more severe and high-profile attacks against victims. Particularly concerning for the NCA is the growth of ransomware "causing harm to our citizens and communities on a significant scale."

Some small business owners are under the mistaken impression that cyber security is only for larger enterprises. They often think, “why would a hacker want to attack my little business, when there are larger enterprises with more money and data to steal?” The reality is that small businesses are attacked often, they just don’t generate headlines the way larger businesses do. Unlike those large enterprises, 60% of small businesses will permanently close 6 months after a data breach. To avoid having your business close, read about the 6 big cyber security risks putting small companies out of business, along with tips on how you can minimize that risk.

If you are looking for the weak link in the cybersecurity chain, you will find it in people. People make mistakes. Hackers are great at exploiting vulnerabilities in software, but the easiest vulnerability for them to target is people. People can be too trusting which can lead to hackers easily gaining access to systems and information.

Covid-19 has forced companies to develop work-at-home policies to keep office workers safe. While some corporate workers are heading back into the office, others are continuing with a WFH or hybrid workspace. While this helps keep workers safe from disease, it makes it more challenging to keep those workers safe from cyber-attacks? If you are worried about the cybersecurity of your remote office staff, here are three tips your remote office workers should follow to help keep their data secure.

Cyber attacks are growing every year. There are all kinds of stats out there to verify this: 78% of organizations worldwide were hacked in 2019. Additionally, 60% of small businesses close 6 months after a data breach. Yet, sadly, many organizations still fail to take cybersecurity seriously.

ZeroFox announced yesterday that Quick Intelligence will be their Canadian Partner to extend their delivery of critical threat intelligence, digital risk protection, and adversary disruption services in Canada.

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have announced the arrest of a 31-year-old Ottawa man in connection with a number of ransomware and cyber security attacks in Canada and the United States. Matthew Philbert was arrested on November 30 after a 23-month investigation that involved the OPP, RCMP, FBI and Interpol.

Protecting yourself and your data online can seem like a daunting task. The difficulty is tied to several factors, such as, how many data “assets” do you have that need to be protected, how many employees, how many locations, and how many Internet connections you may have. Generally speaking, the more complex your environment is, the more difficult protecting yourself can be. Add to that the types of data your organization is trying to protect, and how high profile of an organization you may be, can also play a role in the difficulty of protecting yourself.

If you are thinking that your business is too small to be targeted by cyber criminals, think again. Many hackers think of small businesses as “low hanging fruit,” or as easy targets, since they don’t have big cyber security budgets to prevent an attack. The statistics also prove this to be true.