What you should know about hackers in 2022

Here are a few of the ways hackers can gain access to your information in 2022, in some cases without you even being able to notice until it’s far too late.

Sending ransomware via email

Using this method, cybercriminals can encrypt all of your files making them completely inaccessible to you in just 60 seconds. In this instance, you don’t even need to fill in any details. Often this kind of attack takes the form of hackers pretending to be an official body such as HMRC. They make incredibly convincing emails, and they try and catch people off guard causing them to click and download a PDF attachment.

The moment you click on the disguised link, the hacker is able to gain access to your whole PC. In fact, it might not only affect your machine, it could also affect others working on the same network and shared cloud accounts like Dropbox. Once all of your files are encrypted, the cybercriminal is at liberty to make demands. These are usually financial in nature, and we’ve actually written about a scam we’ve encountered before where the business owner had no choice but to pay, with no guarantee the hacker would release their data after payment had been made – what an absolute nightmare!

Attacks like this bring down businesses every day, and sadly lots of them don’t survive it. You can learn more from our videos of an ethical hacker carrying out these different types of hacks.

Creating fake login portals

This is also known as a “man in the middle” attack. You’ll receive a totally legitimate-looking email in your inbox, which will contain a link to a genuine-looking Microsoft portal. You’ll then sign in and gain access to your Microsoft account, completely unaware that anything is wrong. On the hacker’s screen, they’ll be seeing your username and password details that they’ve harvested.

With these credentials, they can now view client information, steal data, and email others using your identity. In some cases, they have been known to amend bank details on invoices, and have been able to steal thousands of pounds before being discovered. In this instance, when payments are made willingly there’s no recourse to get it back, so often the money has gone forever.

Taking advantage of your laziness

Be honest, how many times have you clicked on ‘update later’ because you can’t be bothered to deal with the fallout caused by an update taking ages in the middle of the day? This could have pretty messy consequences. In the world of IT, as soon as a new system, service, or software is released there are people looking to hack it. The patches to fix any vulnerabilities discovered are often in those all-important updates you’ve been putting off!

Hackers can use specialist software to link with machines running out of date software, and view credentials to gain access to the network. With this information, they can steal data, monitor what’s going on on a screen, or even spy on the office via webcam

How confident are you in the ability of your business to withstand an attack?

60 % of small businesses that fall victim to cyber-attacks close within 6 months of being attacked.

How are hackers operating in 2022?

Just like in the world of legitimate business, automation is becoming a big part of hacking, with cybercriminals attempting to streamline their endeavours with technology. Nearly all services and tools used by hackers will have at least some level of automation to them.

Within data breaches, automation is used to sift through the data and pick out the most valuable information, for example, payment deals, to sell, via the dark web.

Brute force attacks use automation and a list of commonly used passwords in order to break into accounts. Mr Hacker can be sat on the beach sunning himself while technology does his dirty work for him!

Much email spam you receive that contains basic scams such as get rich quick schemes, too good to be true vouchers and false messages, is actually sent by computers. I KNOW, there isn’t really a prince from distant lands looking to transfer your great uncle Henry’s inheritance. How bizarre is that?

One way you can outsmart the hackers is by keeping one step ahead. Book a call with us today to have a chat about your current security, and how we can help prevent you from becoming an upsetting statistic.