Week of October 18th, 2024

Welcome to Your Cybersecurity Recap: a bite-sized weekly newsletter by cybersecurity enthusiasts, for cybersecurity enthusiasts.

Here are this week’s top takeaways:

New 2FA Warning Issued For Gmail, Outlook, Facebook, and X Users

Following last week's 2FA warning, the Action Fraud team, operated by law enforcement in the U.K., has issued a warning to users of all email and social media platforms about ongoing threats that have cost more than 33,000 victims more than $1.8 million in fraud after their accounts were hacked.

The number of victims quoted, along with the financial losses, relate to a single 12-month period ending in August 2024, and only cover attacks that were actually reported to Action Fraud covering the previously mentioned geographic area. However, it’s a large enough statistic, when multiplied around the world, to not only take notice of but react to. This is why Action Fraud is using social media to encourage people to better protect their Gmail, Outlook, Facebook, and X accounts.

Here’s what you need to know and what you must do right now to protect your Gmail, Outlook, Facebook, and X accounts:

Over 75% of Canadians Concerned About Cyber Crime in Online Banking

With cyberattacks on financial institutions on the rise, more than 78% of polled Canadians report feeling concerned about cyber crime in relation to online banking.

Beyond online banking, 76% of respondents expressed concern about the possibility of a data breach at their financial institution in general, with 22% stating that their concern is "extreme".

Conducted in September, the survey polled Canadians countrywide about their views on cyber safety with a specific focus on the financial sector.

Other highlights of the survey include:

• 53% of respondents are likely to switch to a different financial institution if their current financial institution had a data breach
• 73% of those surveyed said they consider a financial institution’s cybersecurity measures when considering switching or staying with their current financial institution
• 95% of survey participants were willing to use extra security measures, such as multi-factor authentication or phone text codes, to protect their accounts and personal information
• 21% of those surveyed would be willing to pay fees to receive bolstered cybersecurity protection for their accounts and personal information from their financial institution.
• Only 54% of survey participants have adopted the use of biometrics to access their financial accounts, with half expressing concern about scammers mimicking their biometrics data.
• 46% of participants have not used biometric authentication to access financial accounts and 58% of those who have not used it are unlikely to consider using it for authentication.

Recent Posts From Our Ethical Hackers

Every month, our ethical hackers work to provide free resources so that your team can continue improving your organization's security posture.

Here are just some of our recent posts:

• "2FA For Employees" by Denis Kucinic, VP of Operations at Packetlabs
• "Investing in EDR" by Ian Lin, Director of Research and Development at Packetalbs
• "CUPS 9.9 CVSS RCE" by Isaac Privett, Ethical Hacker at Packetlabs