written by Rebecca Gomez Studies have shown that most breaches affecting organizations are not committed by nefarious unknown forces, but from their current or former employees. Experts in the cyber intelligence community found that 60 percent of all breaches affecting organizations have been carried out by individuals within their organization, who intentionally or unintentionally, take […]
By Rebecca Gomez Addressing cyber security risk management procedures to all staff is critical to every organization. A recent report indicated two-thirds of all cyberattacks against organizations (large and small) result from employee negligence or malicious activities. The same report also indicated that external breaches only caused about 18 percent of cyberattacks. Human error, according […]
By: Rebecca Gomez Last weekend, a ransomware virus known as “WannaCry,” affected 150 countries and more than 300,000 people. Ransomware is a cyber attack where hackers encrypt files from their victim’s server and holds them for ransom. In the case of “WannaCry,” the hackers demanded $300 to restore their data. An important lesson to take […]
As hackers and cyber thieves are becoming more technology literate, the scale and sophistication of cyber-attacks are increasing. In San Francisco, for example, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) became victim of a ransomware attack. A user (in SFMTA case an employee) unknowingly downloaded the malware on their computer which then was seized by […]
By: Rebecca Gomez “A company’s cyber security is only as strong as its weakest link“-Nicole Hung, Dow Jones News Service 2015 According to a recent article in Rough Notes (March 2014), cyber-attacks against smaller businesses (with fewer than 250 employees), have increased significantly over the past two years. Criminals have learned that smallbusinesses have valuable data and […]
Organizations that engage volunteers in their operations should take special care to manage the risks associated with volunteer service. Thefollowing risk management strategies can help minimize the risk of volunteer service in your organization and maximize the benefits that volunteers bring to an organization: Use a volunteer application form to collect information from anyone who […]
In the wake of yet another large cyber attack on a well-respected health care provider, it is a good time to review some basics about cyber risk and how to better protect your organization with effective risk managementpractices. The following is an excerpt published by the Nonprofit Risk Management Center. Clients of Baker, Romero and […]
Baker, Romero and Associate’s President, Lillian Romero Gomez, and Michael Hellbusch, esq. from Tredway, Lumsdaine and Doyle presented a seminar on cyber risk and its legal issues at the 9th Annual Gianneschi Summer School for Non-Profits, California State University, Fullerton. A special thank you to Susan Cadwallader, Ph.D, Director of the Gianneschi Center for Non-Profit […]
Target’s massive data breach this past holiday season, has developed a better awareness across the board regarding the vulnerabilities of cyberattacks. One lesson learned from Target’s data breach is that you need to be better prepared against a cyber loss. Note that most General Liability policies will not cover the financial losses associated with massive […]
Many of our clients have a false sense of security in believing that their business is too small for a cyber breach! Cyber attacks against businesseshas increased significantly over the past few years. Small businesses have become especially vulnerable to cyber attacks. The 2013 Verizon Data Breach Study indicated that organizations with under 100 employees […]