IT Companies in Brampton Warns: No Business Is Too Small to Be Hacked!

Your Small Business Can Become the Next Victim, IT Companies in Brampton Cautions

If you think your business is too small to be of interest to cyber criminals, think again say IT companies in Brampton. These cyber attacks are not just targeting big companies with big money to spare. They are looking into exhaust all business they can get their hands, er bots, on.  

Data shows that hackers are widening their target list to include all businesses whether small or big. In fact, a report shows that small companies are three times more likely to be targeted than larger ones. The question, however, is what makes them target a company? The answer lies in “botnets”.

What are botnets?

The term has become familiar these past couple of years, but what exactly are botnets? How are they the secret weapons of threat actors? What can we expect from them? IT companies in Brampton explains. Well, the term “botnets” comes from combining the words “robot” and “network”. You can deduce, by this alone,  that these are devices connected to a system that is controlled by someone, i.e., the hacker. Malware have already infected these computers and devices. Because of the infection, hackers are now able to control them to infect other devices in its network.

How does it work?

Basically, instead of hacking all computers in one business, which takes a lot of work, the cybercriminal only needs to infect one and have it do the infecting of all the rest. This makes for wider scope and more efficient hacking. As mentioned, this type of system is not just applicable to computers but other devices as well, like your smart tv or smart refrigerator. Yes, even your appliances can be a bot net, for as long as it is connected into a system. These botnets can do multiple types of threats, depending on the hacker. They flood the system to create fake traffic and shut down the system, send phishing emails to gather personal and financial information, spread viruses and a lot more. These botnets are also used to go through the internet and seek weak portals that hackers can intrude on.

IT Companies in Brampton Warns

Staggering increase in botnet attacks and their effects

Botnets have been observed as early as the rise of the internet and its use in the 1990’s. However, in recent years, botnet activities have seen massive increase. In the first six months of 2022 alone, it was reported to have 67 million connections from 600, 000 IP addresses across almost 170 countries. These numbers have had a steady increase since then semi-annually.

The effects of these attacks vary but are equally disruptive. They range from sending 57 million emails in 24 hours in 2007 to infecting 10 million devices in 2008. In 2009, there was a botnet who infected about 2 million devices that released 74 million spam messages a day. Moreover, with the rise of IoT, a botnet compromised over 500, 000 devices worldwide. Emotet botnets (from 2014 to 2020) also caused significant damage to several companies which required $1 million per incident to remedy the damages created.

IT companies in Brampton can you keep your business safe

Since botnets usually scan for weak points to intrude. It must be noted that defense against them should be directed towards strengthening your boundaries. Some steps that can be taken as follows:  

• Update your software-software manufacturers release new updates with improved defenses from identified loopholes. You can decrease your vulnerability from these threats by updating your software as soon as they are available. This is because the holes have been patched up in newer versions.
   
• Have good and updated firewalls and antivirus.
   
• Provide information to your staff about cybersecurity and what are the things to look out for in emails and other links. This ensures that they do not fall for phishing traps that can lead to a wide-spread infection and attack.
   
• Avoid generic passwords. Although easy passwords make it easy to remember them, it also makes it easy for botnets to break through them. Having strong passwords makes it more difficult to breach.
   
•  Back-up your data. This ensures company resilience and continuity of operations in case of an attack.
   
• Track your network activity. Check and report any unusual activity as well as increase or decrease in emails, traffic, etc.
   
• Get professional help. IT professionals can help you check the status of your system and its vulnerability to cybersecurity attacks. They can also set up measures to ensure your business does not have an open port that botnets can worm their way into. 
   

If you are unsure about what to do, do not worry. We, one of the IT Companies in Brampton, can help you get started. 

Get in touch with us today and let’s make your business safe!