February has officially arrived, and here in New England that means plummeting temperatures and messy commutes. As cold as the weather is right now, though, it’s nothing compared to the frigid cybersecurity conditions that we are seeing.

Here are five chilling cybersecurity statistics you need to be aware of this month:

$4 in Bitcoin currency is enough to purchase someone’s stolen W-2 form or tax information on the dark Web. Hackers are now stealing financial credentials and selling them online to buyers who want to fraudulently cash refunds for their own advantage. Prices are income-based, as the data of higher-earning individuals commands a higher value. (Source)

One third of small businesses still have no idea what ransomware is, or what it’s capable of doing. (Source)

More than 20 percent: The cost of data breaches exceeded 20 percent of revenue last year for more than a third of organizations that were breached. (Source)

200 billion: The expected number of IoT devices that will need to be secured by 2020 (Source).  As we discussed in a recent post, a new strand of malware was recently released that makes it easy to hijack connected devices. Businesses need to focus on securing their connected devices, to prevent hackers from using them for malicious purposes (like shutting down corporate networks in botnet style attacks).

Over one fifth: The number of organizations that lost customers following a data breach last year. Forty percent of businesses lost more than 20 percent of their customer base. (Source)

1.7 billion: The total number of ads that were blocked by Google in 2016 for being harmful, misleading or inappropriate. Oftentimes, hackers will embed malware into fake advertisements in order to snag unsuspecting victims. (Source)

Of course, winter will end in just a few months. But cybercrime will not. So don’t wait to secure your network! Contact Apex Technology Services to learn more about what you need to do to keep your organization safe online.

To get started, click here.

A new breed of hacktrepeneurs has awoken and they have little to fear and everything to gain by infecting as many companies as possible and extorting money from them. Apex Technology Services stands ready to protect your company regardless of whether it’s located in New York City; White Plains, New York; Connecticut; Australia; Europe; or anywhere else. Our full suite of cybersecurity and IT support services is at your disposal, enabling you to spend less time worrying about and more time growing your business.

In addition, our new Cybersecurity Compliance Certification for law firms will help keep your legal practice from becoming the next Panama Papers victim. This baseline cybersecurity audit for the legal industry should be considered seriously by all law firms.