Account compromise occurs when unauthorised individuals gain access to your email, banking, or other accounts. These intruders often exploit compromised accounts to steal personal information, financial assets, and identities.

Implementing simple measures such as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Passphrase's can help reduce this risk.

Business Email Compromise (BEC) represents a sophisticated form of targeted phishing, often referred to as spear phishing. Cybercriminals strategically aim at organisations to defraud them of money or goods. Additionally, they focus on employees, attempting to deceive them into disclosing critical business information.

Examples of this would be Invoice Fraud, Employee Impersonation or Company Impersonation. 

To protect against this companies should explore implementing:

• Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
• O365 Audit and Configuration Hardening
• DMARC Implementation
• Cyber Security Awareness Training (CSAT) 
• Policies to call companies directly if suppliers change bank accounts

A data breach transpires when sensitive or personal information is accessed, disclosed, or exposed to unauthorised individuals. This can occur accidentally or as a result of a security compromise. For instance, an email containing personal details might be mistakenly sent to the wrong recipient, or a computer system could be infiltrated, leading to the theft of personal data.

Should a Data Breach be identified, you need to be aware whether it should be Notifiable Breach under the scheme.

Recommended solutions to address and limit the impact of data breaches include:

• Password Management 
• Network Governance
• Micro-Segmentation
• Data Backup 

Malware refers to any code or program designed with harmful intent (such as Trojans, Viruses and Worms). Cybercriminals deploy malware for various purposes, including:

• Stealing your personal information and account credentials
• Encrypting your data to demand a ransom
• Installing additional software without your consent

Measures to implement to help prevent Malware include:

• Adopting the Essential Eight principles 
• AI enabled anti-virus 
• Extended Detection & Response (EDR)
• Network Detection & Response (NDR)

Phishing is a deceptive tactic used by cybercriminals to obtain your personal information. They craft fraudulent emails or text messages, often masquerading as reputable organisations you recognise and trust. Their goal is to capture your online banking credentials, credit card details, or passwords.

Falling victim to phishing can lead to data breaches, financial loss, or identity theft. Spear-phishing takes this a step further by tailoring these deceptive communications specifically to the recipient.

Quishing represents an innovative twist on traditional phishing attacks, leveraging QR codes instead of conventional text-based links in emails, digital platforms, or even on physical items.

Methods to help prevent Phishing include:

• Cyber Security Awareness Training (CSAT)
• Secure Email Gateway (SEG)
• Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)

Ransomware represents a prevalent and formidable threat in the realm of malware. It operates by encrypting or locking your files, rendering them inaccessible.

To regain access, victims are typically required to pay a ransom, often in cryptocurrency.

Additionally, cybercriminals may demand payment to prevent the exposure or sale of sensitive data and intellectual property online.

To protect against Ransomware attacks, some suggested measures are:

• AI enabled anti-virus software
• Network Segmentation
• Regular Data Backups
• Password Management
• Multi-Factor Authentication