Infographics Are All the Rage, Pt. 3
Microsoft Delivers the Facts for the Short Attention Span Set
Another free downloadable CyberSecurity focused publication has been
released and made available to one and all by Microsoft. The
Microsoft Digital Defense Report, Building and improving cyber
resilience, comes in version. The full report is a
very deep
117 page dive into the State of CyberSecurity and Microsoft's
major contributions to the fight. More relevant to Consumers,
however, is the Executive Summary. That document is a lean 13
pages jam packed with colorful Infographics that summarize well all the
facts, statistics, and other verbiage that fills the full report.
Although the information so eloquently displayed is simple to read, in many instances, the report displays many important facts that should be concerning to all. Consumers who do not have a firm understanding of the both the scope and depth of cyber attacks, circa 2023, can gain a good knowledge about these from the Executive Summary of the survey. Reading is optional.
On either link you will prompted to save your PDF copy to your Downloads folder.
| The first Infographic appears on page 5. The image offers a summary of the many ways that Microsoft has battled all aspects of the Cyber War in 2023. |
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Two facts stand out here. One is over that 100,000 domains, meaning websites that had exited online and run by cyber crooks, tells us how extensive are the threats facing all computer users every day. With every second over 4,000 attempted identify thefts were thwarted. Of course, the converse begs the question: How may ID thefts are NOT thwarted per second?
| Page 7 of the Summary lists what many Consumers and most Professionals alike know. Basic cyber hygiene can prevent up to 99% of common attacks. These measures are all spelled out over and over again in very publication regarding CyberSecurity. And yet many of the measures are still ignored by so many individuals and entities online. I know. I often see this unforgivable state of ignorance in the field and in real time. |
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Let me quickly summarize this Infographic as it pertains to Consumers
✓ Enable
MFA whenever and wherever you can. Look at Microsoft's statistic
here. 99% of attacks defeated simply by 2FA have been implemented.
✓ There is more to staying
up to date that simply relying on Microsoft's Patch Tuesday monthly
updates. The
Index of Cheatsheets herein offers instructions on
how to stay up to date on the most common applications Consumers may
use. More problematical for Consumers, though, is keeping their
hardware up to date. If the concept of updating devices is foreign
to someone, then I strongly suggest an IT professional is hired from time
to time to check and update their devices.
✓ Protecting one's data, according to
Microsoft, requires not only backing up your data, but also knowing
where that backup data set is located. Equally important, could
you easily restore that data set in the event of a cyber attack
requiring your system to have a full clean restore performed on it,
requiring wiping all data on that main drive?
The final Infographic discussed herein is what worries Uncle Sam the most. As Microsoft explains in its preface to the graphic below, attacks on industrial installations risk one and all.
Growing attacks on the highly vulnerable intersection of information technology and operational technology (IT‑OT) emphasize the importance of a comprehensive defense strategy that covers the entire business ecosystem.
| The facts laid out on Page 10 should, at least, give a moment's pause to everyone. IoT — the (Internet of Things) — is a term given to describe all those devices, gadgets and gizmos that are connected to the Internet, but are not necessarily computers, as what most generally understand what a computer is. Think a cable step top box, or a "smart" home appliance. This also encompasses much of the computer systems that runs our critical infrastructure like water systems and power generation plants. |
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Efforts to educate the public about the real dangers we all face from cyber threats of all kinds have come "Along way, Baby," from when I started sounding the alarms over 20 years ago. Now, even the most incredulous Consumers acknowledge the existence of cyber threats. If no other reason that the ubiquity of the Fake Av alert. Consumers do not, however, have easily the means, nor seldom the motivation, to gain a deeper of understanding of the threats, and how best to mitigate those threats.
Three free easily obtained documents offer up information Consumers can easily digest, and possibly even use themselves have been discussed. Hopefully, enough examples have been given to give Consumers ideas of how they can best use the materials and information contained with these documents.
It's up to each of us to do all we can to prevent cyber attacks, and take the appropriate actions in the vent of an attack.
Gerald Reiff