Free VPN – Cyber Risk

Beware the Cyber Risks of Using a Free VPN

VPN (virtual private network) services are extremely common in this age of privacy concerns, offering a quick and easy way for internet users to avoid tracking and geographic profiling when they access online services.

Unfortunately, free VPNs come with a host of potential security risks and could even make your internet browsing less secure than it was before you started using them.

Here are some of the threats that come with free VPNs and how you can avoid them.

Nothing for Nothing: You May Be Paying for Your Free VPN with Your Private Information

Whoever said that the best things in life are free clearly wasn’t an expert on cybersecurity. In the realm of VPN providers, there’s a direct correlation between the cost of service and the safety of use.

While free VPNs may seem like a good idea, web users should always ask themselves: if it’s free, how does the company make money?

In most cases, free VPN providers generate their income from selling access to your time, attention, and sometimes even your data
Free VPN services tend to bombard your browser with ads, giving advertisers full access to you as a captive audience while you use the service
Some of these ads may be suspicious in nature, with malware waiting to infect your device once you click on them.

Worryingly, some free VPNs may even sell your private data or internet browsing information to third parties or allow hackers to hijack your device. Recently. researchers found 28 free VPN apps on Google Play that had links to cybercrime networks.

Given that these providers are almost always located outside of the country, any form of legal recourse you may seek against them could be highly difficult, if not impossible, if your private information is compromised.

Why It’s Worth Investing in a Paid VPN

Like most things in the market, premium VPNs, which require a purchase or subscription fee, are more likely to offer safe and effective services.

By opting for a paid VPN, you can rest easy knowing that you won’t be bombarded with unwanted ads and that the company has no incentive to sell your data to third parties
In fact, they have every reason to keep your data safe by investing in advanced cybersecurity for users of their service

Paid VPNs bring several benefits, primarily privacy when browsing online, and can be an integral part of a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy for individuals and companies alike.

Boost Your Data Security

To further boost data security, we recommend browsing our range of secure cloud storage packages for households and businesses of all sizes. As we said earlier, nothing good comes for free but our lineup of automated backup solutions offers an affordable monthly storage option that’s ideal for any organisation.

Business Risk or Cyber Risk? – Digital Crime

Business Risk Management in the Age of Cybercrime

The risk of cyberattacks has never been higher, with a 23% increase in online criminal incidents affecting South Africans in 2023 alone. As the executive suite comes to terms with the huge probability of cyber-attacks, there’s a new realisation that these incidents are more than just an IT problem and represent one of the biggest business risks of our era.

As you plan your company’s strategy over the medium to long-term, it’s important to keep the prospect of digital crime firmly in mind in terms of risk mitigation.

Here are some compelling reasons to view cyber risks as business risks and take concrete steps to keep your data safe.

Cyber security vulnerability affects every industry

Ransomware, data leaks and breaches, and hacking attempts are having a huge impact on the online security of millions of companies worldwide. If your business has any kind of online presence or banks digitally, it’s equally at risk – and this reality needs to inform your cybersecurity planning.

Industries that deal with confidential customer financial information, including the banking sector, can become major targets for cybercriminals due to the sensitive nature of the data they handle.

Hackers know that these organisations will be keen to recover lost customer information before it becomes a reputational and financial loss for them, and therefore look forward to a generous ransom with a high probability of the money being paid over.

The financial industry is especially vulnerable to these types of attacks with no specific legal requirements in place for banks to ensure high-level cybersecurity.

This has prompted some commentators to suggest that SA should adopt legislation similar to the EU’s Digital Operations Resilience Act (DORA). This law sets out specific IT security standards that institutions which handle other people’s money are required by law to follow.

Mitigating business cyber risk

To keep your business information safe at a time when cyberattacks are increasing exponentially, it’s essential to prevent these crimes before they happen. Here’s how.

Prevention is better than cure. Ensure that your business is fully prepared for a cyberattack by updating your data security and keeping a constantly updated copy of your most important files. Data stored securely in the cloud will give you more options in the event of a cyberattack.
Obtain buy-in from executives. If your CEO or operations manager is still not taking cybersecurity seriously, presenting to them on the potential risks and the benefits of investing in secure cloud storage should be your first priority.
Take cybersecurity beyond the IT department. Comprehensive staff training on cybersecurity basics as well as how to identify suspicious messages that could be phishing attempts are essential steps toward building a safer organisation.

Cyber security is an essential component of every company’s risk management strategy today and will only increase in importance in the future.

Our range of secure cloud storage packages will give your organisation the peace of mind that comes from having encrypted storage to keep your sensitive data safe. Visit our product page today to learn more.

ROI Cybersecurity Budget | Cybersecurity

Mitigating cyber risk with a cybersecurity budget and an ROI

With companies falling prey to cybercriminals daily, you’d think that convincing management to approve your data security budget would be easy. The trick is to make them think so too.

Realistically speaking, no matter how pressing the need for online security and cloud storage services may be, you’ll still need to demonstrate ROI before you can get your budget approved.

Here’s how to go about obtaining the funds you need by demonstrating the value of digital security solutions against the cost of a potential attack.

how ROI works in a cybersecurity context

Simply put, ROI (return on investment) is a way of measuring how much money you’ll make by spending a certain amount on new equipment, a marketing campaign, or expanding your team.

But when it comes to cybersecurity, it’s not how much you’re making, but how much you’re saving in the event of a potential cyberattack.

To demonstrate the return on investment that your organisation could realise from spending more on cybersecurity, you’ll need to know a few key figures.

the estimated cost of implementing a cybersecurity system

Estimated costs will include any hardware you need to buy or replace as well as the cost of software, purchases and subscriptions for on-demand services like secure cloud storage.

These amounts can easily be estimated by obtaining quotes from reputable service providers based on the size of your company, its IT set up and other important factors that the provider will ask you about.

the estimated cost of fixing the problem

You’ll need to try and quantify these in two scenarios: the costs incurred without cybersecurity in place versus the lower cost of solving the issue with the added advantages of mitigation provided by a solid cybersecurity setup.

The tricky part of the calculation is estimating how much your organisation could lose in the event of a cyberattack.

This amount will vary depending on the type of attack, how soon it’s detected, and the value of the compromised data which is not easy to quantify.

Some cost factors to consider include:

Lost business due to downtime
Legal costs
The major expense of paying a ransom
Reputational damage
The cost of stolen intellectual property

how to pitch the ROI of cybersecurity to the boss

Put simply, the percentage ROI can be ‘theoretically’ calculated as follows:

% ROI = (annual cost of risk without cybersecurity – annual cost of risk with cybersecurity) / cost of mitigation x 100

Presenting management with an exact estimate may be an effective way to persuade them to approve your budget.
This approach is better than simply highlighting the potential for cyberattacks which could be seen as scare tactics – no matter how valid these risks may be.

With your budget in hand, you’ll be in a strong position to motivate for top level cybersecurity services, which must include secure cloud storage. However, you need to consider that there is no single or simple solution for any security strategy which will require a holistic overview with multiple layers of control built in.

keep your company’s data safe with secure cloud storage

For more information that will help you choose the best backup storage package for your business take a look at our range of cloud storage packages today.