You hold the key! 🔑 This October it's time to be Cyber Smart. We all know there are some rogue cowboys out in the wild west of the world wide web. From a bored-if-talented Whitianga teens with their sights set on becoming the next Bill Gates, to cybercriminals who’ve become so efficient at figuring out passwords, it can take as little as seven minutes to get into your accounts, and little over an hour to do serious damage.

Cybercriminals have gotten faster at intrusions: ‘Over the past 12 months, the average breakout time for interactive eCrime intrusion activity was 79 minutes. Falcon OverWatch witnessed one adversary breakout time of just seven minutes.’ - Crowdstrike

What was OK a year ago isn’t OK today. 🔒 Remember when a ‘strong’ password was Spring23? Well, those days are over. This August, publicly listed cybersecurity company CrowdStrike (CRWD) released their 2023 Threat Hunting Report. Their research covered a 12-month period from July 2022 to July 2023.  

They found that in the past year, ‘the volume of interactive intrusion activity against the financial services industry increased by over 80%’, and that:

• A growing number of criminal groups and individuals, known as threat actors, are involved in cyber attacks targeting the financial sector
• There is one potential intrusion approximately every seven minutes!

‍Netsec.news said that in 2023, according to cybersecurity company Hive Systems, with faster graphics processing units (GPUs), a weak password of just 6 characters can be cracked instantly:

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How to batten down your hatches

Ready to add an extra layer of security to your investments? Here’s how:

• Download an authenticator app such as Authy, Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator or FreeOTP 
• Choose a long and strong password
• Set up two-factor authentication (2FA)
• More tips to keep your Hatch account secure

Most banks also have cybersecurity information on their websites. Check in with your bank and know who’s responsible for what when it comes to protecting your money. 

Cybercrime’s a trillion dollar business… so is cybersecurity!

Business is booming. 💰 According to Statista, cybercrime is estimated to cost organisations and everyday people US$8.15 trillion this year. And by 2028, that number is projected to rise to US$13.82 trillion - an increase of nearly 70%. 

The Cybersecurity industry is also growing at pace. Revenue for the sector is expected to reach US$166.20 billion this year, rising to US$273.50 by 2028 - an increase of nearly 65%.

School up on cyber stocks. 📚 Nasdaq-listed companies in the business of fighting cybercrime include:

• Caci (CACI) holds a market cap of US$7.1 billion and year-to-date (YTD) their stocks have grown over 4% since 3 January 2023
• CrowdStrike (CRWD) has a market cap of US$40.5 billion and they’ve seen their stocks soar 62.13% YTD
• Fortinet (FTNT), with market cap of US$46 billion, has seen YTD growth of 19.1%
• Okta (OKTA) has a US$13.2 billion market cap and their stock has climbed 18% YTD
• Palo Alto Networks (PANW), which holds a market cap of US$73 billion, has seen substantial YTD growth of nearly 69%
• Qualys (QLYS) with market cap of US$5.6 billion has seen their stock grow around 38% YTD
• SentinelOne (S) has an almost US$5 billion market cap and their stock has climbed around 17% YTD
  

Your cybersafety matters. 👉 Keep up-to-date with cybersecurity at the NZ Government's site Own Your Online make your passwords long, strong (12 characters minimum) and unique every time, get your 2FA sorted, and do everything you can to keep your money yours.