With 99% of malware being sent by web or email, our every-day office lives could be putting our companies at risk.

10 years ago (when I got my first taste of freedom of the World-Wide-Web), a phishing link from an account with a nude as its profile picture, popped up on my MSN. Safe to say, my 12-year-old self was paralysed with fear. Not only over the thought of the internet being so dangerous but also that my nan was most likely looking over my shoulder thinking ‘who is that naked woman on my granddaughter’s laptop screen?’. Safe to say, I shut my laptop with lightening-speed and didn’t open it for a week, just in case this naked lady was waiting to pounce as soon as I signed back in.

Fast-forward to today, and my ‘junk’ email address is awash with 1279218 emails, most of which are from Mcdonalds and other food-chains I’ve signed up to in order to get 50% off mains. The others being phishing messages, ironically claiming that my bank account details have been compromised, or that I have spent £1000 on an app that frankly, I have never heard of (although to my nan’s dismay, my grandad did spend £300+ on Candy Crush lives, but that story for another day).

Over 90% of known bad-malware uses DNS (Domain-Named-System), to gain control of the sensitive data on your devices and either exfiltrate it or encrypt and hold you to ransom. Although I’m computer-savvy enough to know when not to click on certain links, all it takes is a cheeky little change in a web-address (e.g. nafwest.com instead of natwest.com), and you might as well set up a welcome mat for hackers at your network’s door.

Malware can only spread across tech devices, right?

WRONG. Anything linked up to the Wi-Fi network will be affected by malware. Take it from a North American Casino with an ostentatious fish tank arrangement. If your air-con, thermostat etc. connects to the internet, that could be a hacker’s way in. Stick to the good ol’ fashioned fish bowl methinks.

The Infamous WannaCry attack

Anyone who is in the technology industry, watches the news or is part of the NHS, will know what happened back in May 2017 to more than a 1/3 of the NHS’s trusts (and the 19,000 patients who had their appointments affected. As if it isn’t hard enough to get a doctor’s appointment these days!)

For those of you that don’t know/need a refresher, hackers encrypted files on NHS computers, and then demanded £230-£470 in Bitcoin per device. This lasted three whole days, and affected more than 200,000 people.

It could have been avoided, if only they had both up-to-date Windows Operating Systems and patches were applied. *Cough NHS cuts cough*

The answer to all your malware problems: The Cisco Ransomware Defence Solution

In glides Cisco’s up-to-the-minute Ransomware Defence Package. Like a kid in a candy-shop, our partner has pic ‘n’ mixed three separate cyber-security defences, and bundled them together specifically for email and endpoint protection. The line-up is as follows:

Cisco Umbrella (Targets endpoint)

• Keeps track of the good/bad domain names
• Stops users from connecting to malicious sites
• In turn, stopping hackers from controlling and spreading malware; such as command and control call-backs

Cisco Cloud Email Security with Advanced Malware Protection (Targets endpoint and email)

• Blocks users from receiving phishing attack emails and harmful attachments that cause ransomware
• Actively scans and protects against malware

Cisco Advanced Malware Protection for Endpoints (Targets endpoints)

• Quarantines malicious files on endpoints to prevent infection
• Halts lateral movement of ransomware across your network

To make sure fish-tanks and out-dated Microsoft XP software are the least of your problems, contact a member of our team today. Tomorrow could be too late.