Cybersecurity Awareness Blog
Find the best information on how to protect your organization against cyber threats and empower team members to take an active role within your organization.
ChatGPT and Getting our Minds Around Artificial Intelligence
With so many competing headlines proclaiming AI as humanity’s next great technology savior while others prophesize it will be our doom, it can be hard to get a sense for where we’re at.
Here’s what we know.
How to Implement Consequences and Rewards in Your Security Awareness Program
Your security awareness program can’t be based on just consequence or rewards – it needs to incorporate both. Understanding how to implement both consequences and rewards into your program can feel like a bit of a balancing act, so we’ve broken down how both work and can be easily incorporated into your existing security awareness program.
The Fundamentals of a Security Awareness Program
Whether you’re just getting started and don’t have a security awareness program in place, or you’re looking to build on to an existing program, for cybersecurity awareness month this year we’re bringing it back to the basics and covering the fundamentals of a security awareness program.
10 Steps to Ensure Your Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a Success
In this 10-step guide, we’ll give you the tools to ensure your Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a success and you can show ROI from the activities of the month to senior leadership.
Protecting Company Data Out of Office
The loosening of pandemic related restrictions such as social distancing means that the occasional after work get together with colleagues is now back in order, and folks that haven’t seen each other in a long time are eager to celebrate. Employees who work with sensitive data are entrusted to keep that data safe and have a responsibility to safeguard that information. But what happens when they are invited out after work?
7 Cyber Best Practices for Remote Workers
Whether the ideal work environment is at a café, a library, a local park or your kitchen table, there are easy ways to protect the privacy of your work and allow you the flexibility to work from almost anywhere. So, what can your organization do to promote cyber best practices for hybrid and remote workers?
Securing Canada’s Digital Future Requires Federal Action Now
Earlier this week, Beauceron Security CEO, David Shipley, was invited to speak alongside Dr. Ken Barker, Professor at the Institute for Security, Privacy and Information Insurance at the University of Calgary and Juliette Kayyem, a Belfer Lecturer on International Security for the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, at the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): What it is and Why We Should Use it
Enabling two-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication is an excellent way to add that extra layer of protection to work or personal accounts. In this blog, you’ll learn about the different forms of authentication and why enabling either two-factor authentication or multi-factor authentication is considered a cybersecurity best practice.
Cyber True Crime: The Affiliate Part 5
Welcome back to Part 5 of the Cyber True Crime series The Affiliate. In past blogs, we covered the history of NetWalker, how a RaaS ransomware gang functions, how Sebastien Vachon Desjardins, or the Affiliate, attempted to hide his criminal activity through international servers and in our last blog the organizations he targeted in his attacks. In this installment, we’ll begin to unravel how the FBI began tracking the Affiliate down through the international servers and his multiple email addresses.
Cyber True Crime: The Affiliate Part 4
Welcome back to Part 4 of the cyber true crime series: The Affiliate. In this installment, we’ll cover the organizations that the Affiliate targeted over the span of a few weeks.
Cyber True Crime: The Affiliate Part 3
Welcome back to Part 3 of the cyber true crime series The Affiliate. In Parts 1 and 2 we went over how a ransomware gang typically operates, how an organization finds out they have been the target of a NetWalker ransomware attack and how one becomes involved in the criminal organization. In this installment, you’ll learn how an international server works and how the Affiliate used them.
In for the Long Haul: The Long-Term Effects of a Data Breach for SMBs
It’s a common belief that cybercriminals target large businesses for data breaches; however, the truth is that in 2021, small and medium businesses (SMBs) were the biggest and most easily accessible targets for data breaches. Sontiq’s Mid-Year 2021 report concluded that 69% of all data breaches for this year so far have been to small businesses.
Cyber True Crime: The Affiliate Part 2
Welcome back to the cyber true crime blog series The Affiliate. Part 1 provided an introduction to ransomware, how RaaS works and where the ransomware gang we’ll be focusing on, NetWalker, fits into the narrative. In this second installment, we unravel how one becomes a member of NetWalker and the sort of malicious activities that the ransomware gang participated in.
Cyber True Crime: The Affiliate
A Canadian man has been charged by the FBI of being one of the world’s top cybercriminals, making tens of millions of dollars as an agent of a shadowy international criminal organization known as NetWalker. This is his story.
5 Things You Can Do to Drive the Ongoing Success of Your Cyber Awareness Program
You’ve successfully started your team on their cyber awareness journey but don’t know how to keep the momentum going? We’ve created a list of the top 5 things you can do to keep your teams interested and engaged when learning about cybersecurity.
New EU Study Proves Employees are an Organization’s Best First Line of Defense
A recent EU study supports Beauceron Security’s position that employees are an organization’s best first line of defense. Keep reading to learn the details of the study and how organizations can benefit from phishing their employees.
Dear Ransomware Gangs: An Open Letter to Cyber Criminals
Last week was an important week for Canada’s stance against ransomware gangs. On Monday, the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security released their “Open letter to Canadian organizations about ransomware.” On Tuesday, CBC’s As it Happens reported on the recent arrest of an Ottawa man allegedly accused of participating in a ransomware gang. Beauceron Security CEO, David Shipley, was interviewed by As it Happens and gave his perspective on the situation.
To listen to David’s full interview with As it Happens, click here.
How to Foster Positive Behavioral Change
While it may be easy to place the blame on people for data breaches and other cybersecurity incidents, the truth is that people are an organization’s first and best line of defense. Instead of viewing people as the victim, or punishing them for risky cyber behavior, it’s time to change the narrative and instead focus on empowering them through a cybersecurity culture that focuses on positive behavioral change.
Ransomware Basics
Ransomware, or ransom malware locks users out of their device or just certain files which can only be decrypted in exchange for a ransom. Back in the 1980s when ransomware attacks were just beginning to appear, cybercriminals would accept payment by mail. However, today payments are made via cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. In the early days of ransomware, cybercriminals mostly targeted individuals, but gradually shifted to targeting businesses small and large which offered a higher pay out. You don’t even need to be especially technologically talented to become a ransomware attacker now with the growth of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS).