What to do when you are hacked

Security experts have been saying for more than a decade that it is “not if, but when” an organisation will be hacked. Therefore, the focus needs to move to “What to do when you are hacked”.

Cybercrime is big business, a huge underground economy estimated to be larger than the drug trade. Large amounts of money are then invested into developing new cyber-attacks to steal data, hijack systems and find your passwords, credit card and bank details.

Companies need to identify what their critical data is, where it is located, the impact on the company if that data is destroyed or shared, and how quickly they can recover from a breach. The response to a major hack becomes as important as the security measures taken to protect that data.

The attacks are getting more sophisticated and even security professionals fall for phishing. This highlights the need to report and alert the general public to new scams and attacks as they are detected.

The reality is that “people are the weakest link” in the security chain. Organisations need to foster an environment that allows employees to do their jobs by providing training and testing to mitigate the risk.

The New Zealand Government has set up CERT NZ to provide trusted and authoritative information and advice, while also collating a profile of the threat landscape in New Zealand.

Computer Culture is constantly updating our Cyber Security solutions to ensure that our customers have the best protection and a way back from a disaster.