Safeguarding consumer information has become paramount. With the rise of government data security regulations and the increasing incidence and severity of cybercrime, businesses are scrambling to improve their cyber defenses. An essential part of a comprehensive information security program is data encryption. However, the effectiveness of data encryption hinges on a factor often overlooked – … Read more
As the incidence, severity, and sophistication of today’s cyber threats continues to grow, the appropriate use of multi-factor authentication (MFA) is becoming increasingly important. Add to this that new government regulations – like the FTC Safeguards Rule – now requires that businesses implement MFA. The result is a lot of confusion, inefficiency, and quite frankly … Read more
Many dealerships are under the impression that simply having a firewall and antivirus software deployed is a solid cyber defense – they’re incorrect. Cybercrime is now big, big business and it’s rare that the cybercriminal is ever caught and prosecuted. As a result, cybercrime has attracted highly sophisticated and well-funded criminals into this lucrative industry. … Read more
The point at which the cybercriminal emerges and demands ransom is the endgame of a cyber-attack – not the beginning. The key to minimizing – or even eliminating – the impact that a cyber-attack can have on your dealership is to detect the attack early in its lifecycle. To do this you need the right … Read more
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is the process of identifying users by validating two or more “factors” that are unique to a user. Some of the different factors that are most often used in the authentication process include: Something you know (such as a password or PIN) Something you have (like a code sent to your smartphone) … Read more
Unfortunately, many businesses have not properly invested in the cybersecurity best practices that are required to effectively defend against a cyberattack. For many businesses, their defense of choice has been either to: Bury their heads in the sand and hope the cybercriminal stays away. Get cyber insurance and just pass the risk onto the insurer. … Read more
According to the Harvard Business Review, in 2020 ransomware attacks grew 150% from 2019 and the amount that victims paid increased by more than 300%! As a result of the ransomware onslaught, we are all exposed to what feels like a constant stream of ransomware related horror stories. And, unfortunately, the reality is that for … Read more
Before we get into what a SOC (pronounced sock) is and why every dealer should have one, it’s important to first consider the following which was reported in IBM’s 2020 Cost of a Data Breach Report: On average, from the time a breach begins, it takes about 207 days just to detect the breach. It … Read more
The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) passed on November 3, 2020. This new law amends the existing California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and it significantly strengthens this legislation. One addition brought about by passage of the CPRA is the creation of a new government agency called the California Privacy Protection Agency which is “vested with … Read more