You may think that only big companies or rich people have to worry about cyber criminals. After all, they have more money to steal, right?
Wrong.
Cyber criminals are not picky. They go after businesses of all sizes, from small shops to huge corporations. And they use a sneaky tool called “botnets.”
You might have heard of botnets before, and you might be wondering, “what is a botnet, and why does it matter?” Botnets are the secret weapons of cyber criminals. They are groups of devices that have been hacked and controlled by one bad person. These devices can be anything from your laptop to your fridge. Yes, even your fridge can be hacked.
A new report found that botnets are getting more active and dangerous. At one point, over a million devices were doing harmful things online. That’s a hundred times more than usual.
Normally, there are about 10,000 devices that are up to no good every day, with 20,000 being the most that researchers had seen. But in December 2023, things got crazy. The number jumped to 35,144, and two weeks later, it went up to 43,194. That’s a lot of hacked devices.
And it got worse; the researchers saw the biggest jump ever, reaching 143,957 different devices being used at the same time. In fact, on January 5 and 6 there were more than a million devices!
Why are they doing this? These botnets are scanning the internet, looking for weak spots in websites, servers, and even email systems.
Imagine the internet as a castle with many doors and windows. These cyber criminals are trying to find unlocked doors and open windows to get in. They focus on certain “ports” that are like entrances.
How can you protect yourself from these cyber attacks?
You need to make sure your doors and windows are secure. Here are some easy steps:
• Update your software, operating systems, and apps regularly. Updates often fix problems.
• Get a good firewall and antivirus software to protect your devices.
• Teach your employees how to be safe online, such as not clicking on weird links or emails.
• Use strong, different passwords for all your accounts and devices.
• Back up your data often to avoid losing it in case of a cyber attack.
• Watch your network for any strange activity.
• Think about hiring a cyber security expert (that’s us) to check and improve your security.
If you want our help to keep your business safe, contact us.