2020 has brought a lot with it. Besides the novel coronavirus and BLM movement on the physical plane, rise of encrypted traffic has spiked up by 260% and ransomware by almost 500% on the digital plane, as per the research conducted by the popular cybersecurity firm Zscaler.
SSL, a global standard security measure that enables secure communication between a web browser and a web server is now being used by hackers to hide their attacks. This allows them evade detection and carry out the malware attack with ease.
What has been affected the most?
Healthcare industry has witnessed 1.6 billion encrypted attacks, preceded by finance and manufacturing industries. A decent number (about 30%) of these attacks hide in services such as Google Drive and Dropbox.
What should you do?
Stay in the know by keeping an eye on the networks you’re connecting to. It is important to monitor your internet activities and ensure that you’re visiting trusted websites. Avoid filling any information until you’re sure about the authenticity of the website.
As Newton’s third law goes, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”, the intensity and complexities of cyber attacks is rapidly increasing, but so is the defense. No industry is 100% immune to cyber attack, however, implementing multi-layer security is imperative.
