I have been working in the digital field for over 12 years now and over the years I have heard many a horror story of companies being hacked, people leaving laptops containing sensitive information on busses and thousands of passwords being revealed – all of which are clearly not good news for the people involved.
Despite having earned a degree in Computer Science and working with the Internet for over a decade the reality is that cyber security is quite a niche knowledge base and it’s no guarantee that just because someone is educated in computers, they know how to handle that particular area. In fact, I don’t remember learning anything about cyber security during my degree at all! Upskilling those already in the cybersecurity industry and enticing newcomers to join is said to be our best defence, but programmes and schemes are currently not enough with up to 3.5 million cybersecurity jobs predicted to go unfilled this year.
Whether you work full time using a computer, are a blogger or just occasionally frequent retail shop websites cyber security should be at the front of your mind when running or being a customer of an online business.
Unfortunately, it’s a sad truth that cybercrime is on the rise, in fact, according to Action Fraud there have been over 31,000 reports of social media hacking between 2020-2021, with over 7,700 reports of computer viruses/ malware and over 5,500 reports of personal hacking. Not forgetting over 5.5 million reports of phishing or suspicious emails that have been designated a key enabler for criminals to initiate cyber attacks and fraud.
Shockingly this all adds up. It’s been reported that at the time of writing, £2.5 billion has been lost to fraud and cybercrime in the last 13 months. With losses from people being held to ransom via extortion, losses due to social media and email hacking as well as viruses and malware. That sort of amount of loss due to cyberattacks is mind-boggling!
The smarter technology gets, the more options there are for skilled hackers to infiltrate private systems and compromise sensitive information. These days, malware and identity theft are just a few clicks away and without robust procedures in place, who knows how much data might be stolen before you’ve even realised it.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 has seen a spike in cybercrime with criminals exploiting the fear and uncertainty caused by the unstable social and economic situation created by the pandemic, sending scams in the name of the World Health Organisation and tricking people into buying protective masks that don’t exist. The data reveals major spikes in reported instances of such crimes between January and March 2021, at the height of the UK’s second major pandemic lockdown, with more than 137,000 crimes resulting in losses of £625.6m reported during the first quarter. It is clear to me that there is an urgent need for better education and awareness across the public and private sector around the techniques cybercriminals use and how to avoid falling victim to attacks.
To that end, today I want to tell you about a company offering resources to educate businesses and individuals about cyber security. TryHackMe.com has over 700,000 users and offers cyber security training in cyber security for users of all levels, whether you’re a complete beginner or a seasoned pro.
Compatible with every type of browser, these resources and learning materials can be accessed anywhere in the world, so you can be sure of having top quality training and support wherever you are based and even if you’re frequently on the go. The TryHackMe blog also offers lots of invaluable information, from latest news, advice on best practices, additional training support and community testimonials.
Last year the lead up to Christmas saw a surge in cybercrime activities and this year is unlikely to be any better. Criminals lure unsuspecting members of the public with discounts and promotions and appeal to our inner bargain hunters. It should come as no surprise that phishing e-mails in the name of major brands such as Amazon are particularly common.
To help combat this, TryHackMe is offering an Advent of Cyber, a free advent calendar of daily activities that runs as a training course including a dynamic series of training labs from 1st December through to Christmas and educates through gamification, making learning fun. Each task is self-contained and includes the basic information required to start working on a security challenge – they won’t be throwing you in the deep end, every challenge will contain supporting material and a video tutorial! The activities also come with delightful incentives to keep you motivated, with various prizes to be won as you complete the different levels.
All those that have completed the Advent of Cyber will be entered into a prize draw, with lots of goodies to be claimed, from vouchers to gadgets to passes for more advanced training courses that will earn you an official certification at the end. You’ll be a cyber security pro in no time.
