Listen to "Ron Zayas, Gary John Bishop & Irwin Zucker" on Spreaker.
IronWall360 CEO Ron Zayas recently returned to The Frankie Boyer Show to discuss the global state of cybersecurity, why we are more at risk than ever of having our private information leaked, and what we can do to help protect ourselves.
Much of the discussion focused on a ransomware attack against an HR management platform called Kronos, which claimed victims in several US cities including one that is home to one of the largest police departments in California. The private information of the city’s police officers was leaked – including their addresses and phone numbers.
During this discussion Zayas announced a special offer for police officers whose private information was compromised by the Kronos attack. These public servants can receive one year of free online privacy protection from IronWall360, simply by registering at https://www.360civic.com/protectme.
“We’re dealing with threats coming from all directions,” Zayas said, and acknowledged that we may never know how many attacks happen every year, since many companies pay the ransom hackers demand so they don’t have to inform the public that they have been hacked.
The Kronos attack is illustrative of how effective a single attack can be. The hackers acquired millions of employment records from both the public and private sector. What information do job applicants and employees provide to their employers? It’s not just name, address, phone number and email contact – its social security numbers, and bank account information for direct deposit of paychecks.
And whether the ransom is paid or not in these situations, the private information of those impacted can still end up online and accessible to anyone willing to search for it, or pay for it.
“These attacks seem overwhelming, and it’s human nature to say there’s nothing I can do about it,” Zayas said. But he warned against that type of complacency, while offering simple steps that anyone could take to be more secure online. These include password selection, adding a lock to your online accounts, and how to handle security questions.
