Second Cybersecurity Summit grows beyond expectations

Cyber attacks can wreak havoc on a business that becomes a victim.
Cyber attacks can wreak havoc on a business that becomes a victim.(kplc files)
Published: Jul. 21, 2022 at 7:29 PM CDT
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Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - Cyberattacks are an ever-increasing threat, and now the cost of doing business for those who want to protect customers.

The second Cybersecurity Summit in Lake Charles had a waiting list, which shows businesses and government alike are seeking solutions.

A cyberattack can wreak havoc on a business, as happened last year when there was a ransomware attack against Colonial Pipeline. It triggered gas shortages as the company tried to contain the attack.

More than a year later, companies gathered at L’Auberge du Lac to hear what they can do to protect themselves. Experts say the safe route is not always the easiest route.

“People don’t really want to go through all the hurdles and do multi-factor authentication, and they always complain, why do I have to do two steps to log in and what’s my password. Why do I have to change it every 30 days,” said La. Radio IT specialist Jason Smith.

Summit organizer Brett Dering who owns Kinetic IT urges businesses to watch out for fake invoices.

“When a vendor got compromised, they assumed the vendors identity and started sending out fake invoices. And so, what the end user is seeing may look legitimate, but they may have changed the bank account number on an invoice, so they’re wiring money to the wrong place,” said Dering.

He also talked about the importance of properly training employees.

“End users are the biggest vulnerability. I think they make up 85 percent of all data breaches. So having the end user trained to look out for the dangerous emails coming through is the biggest step,” said Dering.

And in this context who is the end user?

“Employees. Anybody that works in the business with an email address is considered an end user,” said Dering.

He says be suspicious of every email and change passwords for every website.

Joshua Tannehill with Lumen Technologies started the summit.

“We have amazing speakers who come in here just to teach the business leaders and it professionals how to be better at their job. What new things to learn, what new attacks to be mindful of, how to report cyber attacks, how to protect consumer data,” Tannehill said.

Below are other resources that may help you protect your business or personal computers:

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