Security is the foundation of any strong organization. When an organization goes through a major change, processes change, and cybersecurity can be threatened.
Global cyber-attacks increased by 38% from 2021 to 2022. 3,000 websites are hacked every day, which will continue to increase from 2023 to 2024. An organization dealing with a major change is perceptively vulnerable.
Understanding potential dangers and being prepared is the first step in preventing cyberattacks.
Threats To Be Vigilant About
Cybersecurity threats come in many forms. Social engineering, malware, ransomware, and outright attempted breaches can show up at any time. This is especially true for an organization in transition.
Ransomware attacks are expected to be on the rise in 2024. Ransomware is a malicious software designed to block access to a computer until a sum of money is paid. A.I. is a tool that can be useful for certain aspects of a job, but A.I. is also used by cybercriminals to generate phishing emails, share private information online publicly, and create malware to corrupt a device. A.I. generated emails, texts, and phone calls are also on the rise in 2024; just last year, a ransom call was faked using A.I. Luckily, the victims discovered they were being scammed before wiring money to the account, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to breathe a sigh of relief.
An organization undergoing change is more susceptible to attacks like these. Cybercriminals see news stories and public announcements. Once a change in an organization is made public, a cybercriminal will try to take advantage.
Social engineering threats come in different modus operandi, sometimes through phishing, vishing, and smishing. The most common form of an attempted socially engineered cyberattack is phishing. Read more about social engineering in our last blog. Changes happening rapidly can sometimes confuse individuals and derail the process of keeping an organization safe. People are more likely to let their guard down and click on something that they do not validate first.
How You Can Be Prepared
It’s often difficult to recognize real threats.
As an employee of an organization, whether there is significant change happening or not, you take on part of the responsibility of being vigilant and reporting suspicious behavior to the proper channels. For example: an email comes into your inbox asking about your participation in the changing policies, but you don’t know the policies they are referring to and were unaware of any links needed for changing. With a plate of work to continue doing, the instinct is to quickly reply without a thought. But, in doing so, this could open your entire organization to a cyber-attack. Instead of clicking on an external link without prior advance, or prior approval from trusted organizational figures, report it to your organization’s security department.
If you are confused as to whom an incident should be reported to, given an organizational change, it’s okay to ask either your supervisor or someone on the security team who will know about any updates to a procedure. Keep an eye out for any changing procedure emails from trusted sources; they may come in handy. When in doubt, report it; you are responsible for monitoring and maintaining your role in organizational wide risk management.
If you can inform yourself of threats beforehand, such as ransomware or social engineering attacks, then you can use that knowledge to be better informed and more skeptical of suspect activities. New procedures might take some time to be implemented, if there are any, so keep an eye out for updates and ask if you are confused. When it comes to security, forewarned is better than no warnings.
Our Commitment To You
AQuity Solutions, an IKS Health company, is committed to providing quality service and protecting your data. We believe in strong security processes, maintaining SOC 2, ISO 27001, ISO 9001, HIPAA and GDPR compliance, and annual security training. We rely on least privileged data access and a zero-trust philosophy. We work on continuously improving our craft, dedicating ourselves to protecting your data, and maintaining our business of helping people who help other people.
We take our commitment to security and risk management seriously. To learn more about our commitment to security, view AQuity’s security page.
Marty Serro - Chief Information Officer, Chief Security Officer
Marty joined AQuity (formerly M*Modal) in 1998 and has over 35 years of diversified technology management experience in support, development, security, and implementation across varied industries. During Marty’s tenure with the company, he has built AQuity’s global support infrastructure through innovative tools and a high-touch customer supporting infrastructure. Under his leadership, our security team has built an industry leading security framework that ensures client data protection at all times. Marty leads the company’s SOC2, ISO 27001, and HITRUST annual certifications and has established a robust security education and training program for all staff.
