Page 36 - BusinessWest April 3, 2023

Layers of Protection
Cybersecurity Conference This Fall Will Help Businesses Stay Safe
BY MARK MORRIS
“Two-thirds of people use the same passwords on multiple online accounts. Imagine if a cybercriminal knows that one password and
can log into your financial, work, or cloud accounts.
It happens every day to millions of people.”
As the world increases its dependence on the internet for all kinds of transactions, keeping everything secure becomes a constant challenge.
Cybersecurity experts compare their work to an ‘arms race’ in which every new, secure tool they put in place motivates cybercrimi- nals to find a new way to defeat it.
“When you think about it, we need to be right all the time; they only need to be right once,” said Charlie Christianson, president of CMD Technology Group, which installs computer networks for all kinds of companies and keeps them safe.
Paul Whalley, president of Growth for Your Company (G4YC), said cybersecurity is like physical security in that, the more difficult it is for criminals to defeat, the better the odds of not being a victim. “For example, if criminals want to rob a house, they are more likely to hit the house with an open door over one with bolted locks on every door, tightly shut windows, and a sign out front that says they have a security system.”
Whalley is best known as the founder of Whalley Computers. In his current venture with G4YC, he helps companies like CMD Tech- nology Group grow their business. Along with Christianson, Whal- ley is organizing a cybersecurity conference this fall. The idea is
to educate local business leaders and IT professionals on evolving cyberthreats and the latest tools to combat them.
Businesses that purchased antivirus software years ago may think they are protected, but Christianson noted that, even if the old software blocks a cyberattack, it can take months to determine the source of the attack and how it gained entry.
“The new software tools can make a huge difference because
they will immediately point you in the right direction to find the problem,” he said. “Some will block the threat and move it to a safe server to determine if it needs to be quarantined.”
Two-factor authentication (2FA) — that access code a bank sends by text after the customer inputs a password — has emerged as a strong deterrent against outside attacks. Encouraging safe prac- tices such as a written policy to guide employees on how to act when they are using the company’s system is another key to fighting cyberattacks.
The software tools are only as good, however, as the people using them. Scott Augenbaum is a retired FBI agent and cyber- crime-prevention trainer who is scheduled to present at the fall cybersecurity conference. Augenbaum contends that online safety begins with basic practices everyone can follow, starting with passwords.
“Two-thirds of people use the same passwords on multiple online accounts,” he said. “Imagine if a cybercriminal knows that one pass- word and can log into your financial, work, or cloud accounts. It happens every day to millions of people.”
When he retired from the FBI in 2018, Augenbaum said, cyber- crime was a $4 trillion problem. Since then, the cost to society has doubled. “The pandemic ruined everyone’s lives except the cyber- criminals. So many people were shopping online, working from home, and logging in remotely to our most critical sites.”
In addition to using 2FA, Augenbaum recommends that businesses and indi- viduals identify what he
Cyber
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