HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The experts at sprinto.com, a security compliance automation platform provider, have analyzed the most recent data from The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) on the US states most at risk of cybercrime attacks to underscore how individuals and businesses across states can exercise safeguards.
Here are the three takeaway points from this research pertaining to Alabamians:
- Alabama is the second state most at risk state of cybercrime
- Eastern US states are predominantly most at risk of cybercrime
- Businesses in Alabama lose as much as $57,477 every year to fraud, a new study reveals.
Rank wise, South Dakota is the state most at risk of cybercrime, with an average loss of $59,960 per fraud complaint.
Alabama is the second most at risk state, with an average loss of $57,477 per complaint. The most frequent types of cybercrime are non-payment/non-delivery, personal data breach, credit card fraud, identity theft and social media.
New York ranks third, with an average loss of $32,040 per complaint. The most frequent types of cybercrime in New York are non-payment/non-delivery, identity theft, personal data breach and social media.
The top ten is rounded out by Delaware, Massachusetts, Georgia, Vermont, New Jersey, California and Kansas.
At the other end of the scale, Indiana saw the lowest losses from cybercrime, with an average loss of $5,430 per fraud complaint.
FOX54's Nixon Norman spoke with a Cybersecurity Evangelist, Chandler Hall, from local cyber intelligence company, Sentar Inc.
Before we dive into the world of protecting your business from cyber attacks, I wanna share an example of this happening.
In May of 2021, there was a ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline system.
"You may remember there was an oil supplier, the Colonial Pipeline that got hacked, and all of a sudden, the price of gas... prices all went up and people were standing in line again or waiting in line for gas. So it's that kind of thing," said Hall.
Protecting your data should always be a priority but keeping data protected in Alabama is especially important.
"Alabama's got a decent concentration of defense contractors and military bases," said Hall.
Here's what you can actually do about it, for starters, be very wary of extremely urgent messages or requests:
"First trigger should be of any sense of urgency, any sort of rush, any mention of 'do not call the police, do not contact your relatives.' Any of that kind of stuff, as a combination, to me, is a huge red flag," said Hall.
Hackers can take a look at your digital footprint in order to learn things about you.
"They can craft email messages to really, you know, trick me into maybe clicking on links and going further," said Hall.
So, you MUST use decrement when it comes to any message you receive containing a link. DO NOT be so quick to click through.
"Netflix is not texting you or sending you emails to say your account has been compromised, saying, 'please click here.' Don't do that!" said Hall.
You should also be using some sort of MFA or multi-factor authentication.
"[MFA's are] other methods besides your username and your password. Maybe it's a code that you get sent to your phone that you then key in," said Hall.
As for passwords, he says, make them long, at least 20 characters long. He also said it's best to think of a phrase to use, instead of one word.