If you were a teenager at some point you may have heard of the infamous dark web. A place where anyone can buy anything no questions asked as an anonymous purchaser. These purchases include stolen art, illegal substances, and most importantly personal information like SSNs, ID’s and credit card info. Many believe that this side of the internet is solely a wise tale told to scare off people from searching for bad things on the internet. Unfortunately like many things that people believe don’t exist the dark web is here and you may unknowingly be on it.
The dark web has expanded in the past three years hitting a 300% growth from 2018. This includes over 22 billion new records stolen in the last year alone. With these numbers, everyday consumers are getting targeted and are being at risk for potential identity theft. If you have gotten this far into the blog you may be wondering “what can I do?”. Well luckily in today’s issue of the Aspis Insider we will be focusing on tips to help prevent you, your employees, and your business from dark web hacking.
Tip #1 Seperate Work & Leisure With Company Property
One of the easiest ways hackers get into companies’ systems is through employees using their work devices for more than work. As an employee, it may be second nature to check the news, click links on emails, or scroll around Facebook. In hindsight, many think that this has no risk and is perfectly fine. Unfortunately, hackers take advantage of these employees and many hide imposter links that when clicked allow the hacker access into the computer. These are some of the easiest ways hackers can access accounts and has cost business owners thousands. Creating proper procedures can help reduce your risk and having an open conversation with employees about the risk of using work property for nonwork business.
Tip #2 – Train Your staff On Tell Tale Signs of Hackers and How To Avoid Giving Them Your Information
Training your staff on the tell-tale signs of a suspicious email could save you thousands. Hackers pray on the uniformed and take thousands of businesses hostage every year. IBM estimates the average cost to a business of a data breach is $3.86 million. Aspis offers effective training through our partners at KnowBe4. Learn more about KnowBe4 by checking out their page here.
Tip #3 – Require Quarterly Password Changes On Business Accounts
Out of all of the tips provided this one may be the easiest. Constantly changing your password makes a hacker’s job substantially harder and usually “resets” the clock of how long it’ll take them to hack. Our team at Aspis recommends that every employee should change their passwords at least every 3 months to prevent a potential breach. To learn more about passwords and hacking check out a site by better buys. This site gives great insight into the world of hacking and can help you pick the perfect password.
Tip #4 – Routinely Check Your Accounts
Having a routine of checking your accounts is one of the simplest ways a business can test if they have been breached. Many hackers will get into accounts and will charge microtransactions taking thousands from businesses over time. When business owners are up to date and aware of what happens with their business the risk of hacking plummets. To see if it’s already too late make sure to check out one of our previous blogs here.
Tip #5 – Monitor Your Emails, Accounts, and Passwords
Aspis Consulting offers a wide range of dark web monitoring solutions to help any size business. With plans starting as little as $300 a month, Aspis is an affordable way to prevent your company from attack. To learn more set up a free consultation at www.aspis.consulting or by emailing info@aspis.us.
Set up a free consultation today to learn how we can help your business. Aspis Consulting is Kansas City’s leading cyber security firm. with offices in Kansas City, Duluth, and Washington DC Aspis can help businesses nationwide. With over 20 years of experience in the Cybersecurity field, there’s nothing Aspis has not seen.
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