As I mentioned before on my cybersecurity post, cybersecurity is the biggest growing business in the world. A prime example of this is a website maleware attack that cause a educational website to become the launching pad pornographic photos and video.
The employees that run the site had an email that came from what they thought was their book supplier, but it had a slightly different form when it came into their email box. When one employee opened it, it started a chain reaction that sent emails to everyone on the email contact list, and it continued to populate until it hits 100 devices. After it reacted its limit, it froze the devices it was opened on an took a copy of all the data on the device, after which it deleted itself from the device and left no trace of its presence on the device. After getting access to all the sensitive company data, it used it to take control of the company’s social media and websites and changed them to pornographic launch pads that take control of devices. The devices used on the site, become spying tools for the hacker to use to gain money and data. This caused millions of dollars in damages to people around the world, and people’s lives were ruined for eternity. The only way to stop the male/ransomware attacks was to create a counter attack that caused the attack software to malfunction and collapse in on itself, but the repercussions of such an attack are felt for years, and some people never truly recover from such an attack.
The lesson is that even though you get an email, does not mean it is the true thing, things that seem as innocent as a text or email can cause you to lose sensitive data and years of work. So, do your research on an unknown email or text; if you can talk to the person offline, do so to make sure that they actually sent you that email or link. If you realize that it is not the person you think it is, block and delete the conversation from your devices. Also, if you are new to a server or website, be careful about what you do, as you are a more vulnerable target for hackers, as they may realize that you know very little about your area and it makes you easy to manipulate. Read 10 worst Cybersecurity Habits to Stop Immediately and CISA Names 3 ‘Exceptionally Dangerous’ Behaviors to Avoid.