S#!& Happens! Some of you may remember the scene in Forrest Gump when that phrase was “created” by Forrest. It was and is funny because it is true. Sometimes S#!& incidents happen {I would bet that for anyone who has had one happen to them, one of the first words uttered, was the one that started this month’s CyberBytes 😉}.
People will accidently click on something that is designed with malicious intent (phishing emails, malware download, fake virus notification, etc…) or may download a seemingly normal file only to find that later, they start to notice suspicious behavior on their computer; we are human, and everyone is susceptible. No matter how it happened, in all cases, it is important to know what actions you should take if you believe there is an issue with a device that handles your company’s information, because identifying problems early can stop cyber security breaches before they happen or before they can do even more damage.
Do you know the first steps you should take AND who/how to report the issue? {I do hope you answered yes 😬} But, if you don’t its a good idea to get with your company’s security team to find out.
But here are the basic steps you should take in the situation where you think a device that handles your company’s information is infected:
- Don’t engage with any prompts on the screen.
- Remove the device from any network connections (Wi-Fi, wired or mobile, data network).
- Notify
- Your supervisor, and/or
- Your IT Department
- Await instructions….
If you suspect there is something amiss on your device that is used to access any company information (email, SharePoint, etc….), the most important part of this process is notification! If you don’t notify your company, and it is a serious bug and they don’t catch it early, it could, worst case, totally cripple your business while your company moves to trying to eradicate it from multiple devices and system when your company could have isolated it to only one. Remember, while most people are just like you and me, there are those who are looking for a quick $$ and will cheat, con, and destroy anything in their path to get it. Some even do it just “because they can”. So, just like in the physical world where we lock doors and keep a watchful eye on our surroundings, please do the same for your digital world, maintain your cyber vigilance AND if there is a suspected incident, TELL SOMEONE!
Written By: Rob Collings, ISHPI’s VP of Cybersecurity | CISO
July 1, 2024