Cybersecurity: What can you do to reduce your risk of online attack?

The 2022 Pinnacle Health cyber-attack saw half a million Kiwis’ personal data stolen. This is a jarring reminder to all of us that we willingly share a large amount of information with organisations, but do we really understand how well they look after it?

If we are going to reduce the enormous impact of these types of cyber-attacks, New Zealand must take online security seriously – both as individual end-users, and the organisations who hold our data.

The first question people have is ‘‘why does anyone even want my data?’’

Over the past few years, the value of personal data has increased massively. There is a thriving online market for personal information, where data can make an attacker hundreds of dollars, depending on the information.

Attackers use this data for a number of different things, including adding you to new phishing and smishing (text phishing) campaigns, trying to reuse your credentials across different accounts, impersonating you to set up lines of credit, or reselling the information they have to other scammers.

The name of the game is money – the more they can profit, the more interesting your data becomes.

Last year saw a reduction in certain attacks, as some attackers have been busy elsewhere. Analysts suspect that a drop in global ransomware attacks this year may be due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The rise of the cyber soldier has meant many hackers focused on the war effort, rather than stealing from businesses around the world.

However, we should be preparing ourselves. The tools and techniques they develop during this war will find their way back into the criminal market, and we will see more sophisticated and devastating cyber-attacks when they do.

So, what can you do to reduce your risk of an attack?

Cybersecurity is everchanging and complex, but most hacks come down to someone neglecting the small things that hold it all together.

Passwords

As tempting as it is to use the same password for most accounts, if one single app gets breached a huge collection of your personal data can be stolen across all your apps. A motivated criminal could do a lot of damage with this information, and not just to you but your place of work as well.

Always use different, longphrase passwords, or better yet, do yourself a favour and commit to a password manager.

Multi-factor authorisation

It’s annoying to have to pull out your phone every time you sign in, but the truth is it’s one of the best ways to keep cybercriminals out. This is something you can action now. Go through everything you use and turn multi-factor authorisation on.

Regularly update software and hardware

Again, it’s annoying to stop what you’re doing and accept an update to an app or device. But often the reason they need updating is because they’ve found a security gap. Anything that connects to the internet needs continual updating. Every time you delay an update, you’re leaving yourself vulnerable.

Never save your credit card details online

This one is obvious for some, but many still do it because it’s so convenient. While some websites take great measures to protect your information, others don’t. I wouldn’t save my credit card details anywhere. There is malware out there that can scrape that information from your browsers and give attackers total control.

Change the culture around online security

Your data is one of the most precious things you own – just ask anyone who has ever had their identity stolen. Before handing over any personal information to a business, consider why they need it. The less you have online, the less the cybercriminals can do with it.

To all New Zealand businesses, it’s imperative in 2023 you prioritise reviewing what data you hold and how you’re protecting it.

To start, go through all the personal information in your system: if you don’t need it to run your business, delete it.

Let’s make 2023 the year New Zealand changes its online security culture.