As summer has now passed us by, we welcome October with open arms.

October is not only the celebration of Autumn and Halloween, it’s also Cybersecurity Awareness Month. This annual campaign aims to provide cyber awareness for all technology users.

Cybersecurity is the core of what we do, so we want to take time this month to help educate all internet users the importance of staying safe online.

In order to help raise awareness, we have compiled a list of Top Tips & FAQ’s  for staying safe online.

What is Malware?

We have all heard the word ‘Malware’ but what is it, and how can it affect you? 

Recently, more and more news has surfaced about millions of consumers becoming affected by data breaches. Most of these data breaches involve a company’s point of sale (POS) machine. The main objective for hackers, when attempting to hack a company’s POS machines, is to steal the 16-digit card number from your credit card. Obtaining credit card information from big companies can be extremely lucrative for hackers, as on the black market, credit cards can sell for up to £100 per number.

We’re fast approaching the middle of 2019, and already we’ve seen numerous announcements of major data compromises involving millions of personal data records being stolen, including:

1. Email addresses & passwords
2. Passport numbers
3. Social security numbers
4. Banking information & credit card data

While the largest breaches catch our attention and have done a lot to raise awareness to the threat these criminals pose to our society, what is often less well reported, and therefore, less well understood, is how the smaller end of the business world is being targeted. As an example, we rarely hear about the thousands of successful small to medium eCommerce websites that have been hacked, and are quietly leaking all their customer payment data to criminals every day.

In recent months, cyberattacks have been on the rise within the education industry, especially within schools. Only recently, CCTV was leaked on to the dark web through a disturbing website called ‘Watch live surveillance cameras in the UK’.

CCTV footage leaked included children in the playground, classrooms, and even the bathroom. 20% of schools have been targeted already, and in coming months the figures are expected to rise.