The end of the year is typically a time of celebration and optimism for the future, but some Canadian organizations were marred by ransomware breaches that had a significant impact on many large organizations throughout Canada. Read on to discover the reasons behind this alarming trend and why tighter cybersecurity measures are needed.

Ransomware attacks are essentially encryption-based data extortion where threat actors block access to your data until a ransom is paid, after which a decryption key is given to retrieve data. According to a ransomware trend report, businesses and organizations in Canada remain among the top 3 most lucrative targets for the threat actors after the U.S. and the U.K.

November 2023 ransomware events in Canada included:

• Toronto Public Library will continue to restore systems well into 2024 after a significant ransomware attack.
• The Government of Canada data breach incident potentially affected information of current and former Government of Canada employees, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and Royal Canadian Mounted Police personnel.
• Moneris — the payment processing giant faced an unsuccessful ransomware attack, reports no data loss.

Why are ransomware attacks on the rise?

As our lives become increasingly digitized, the rate of ransomware attacks follows suit. Cybercriminals are becoming shrewder and exploiting this shift for financial gain. The rise of cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, provides an untraceable payment method, making the operation risk-free and lucrative. Artificial Intelligence (AI) further empowers these cybercriminals by automating the finding and exploiting weaknesses in security systems. But AI isn’t just the bad guys’ tool; it can be our superhero, helping to detect and block these attacks before they strike.

3 Steps to Cyber Resilience for organizations in Canada

1. Penetration Testing
   Conducting annual penetration tests, or more frequently following significant infrastructure changes, is a proactive measure to discover vulnerabilities before cybercriminals do. This approach offers a high ROI by preventing breaches that could incur substantial expenses.
2. Use Future-proof Tools
   Managed Endpoint Detection and Response (MEDR) is a next-generation solution that protects supported endpoints and responds to neutralize potential threats before they compromise your operations. MEDR is a future-proof response to today’s highly sophisticated cyber attacks.
3. Employee Cybersecurity Training
   Human error often causes cyber breaches. Therefore, quarterly cybersecurity awareness training for employees is crucial. This cost-effective measure could save your organization from significant financial and reputation losses.

Additionally, choosing a competent IT partner is your best bet in this fight. The right partner will build both offensive and defensive strategies around your business infrastructure, catering to your budget. A strong partnership with your IT vendor goes beyond business; it’s a commitment to growth and stability.

Learn more about how Konica Minolta can help here.

In the tech-savvy world we live in today, trust has become more valuable than gold. This holds true whether you’re a law firm, financial consultant, or a creative agency of any size in North America. For Professional Services Organizations (PSOs) trust is vital. You need it to keep your current clients and to draw in new ones, helping your business grow and hold its ground in a super competitive market.

Here’s a fun fact: cybersecurity is a major player in building and keeping that trust. With cyberattacks getting more common and clever, your clients and prospects are more aware than ever about the safety of their sensitive data and confidential information. Through this blog, we’ll guide you on how your professional services firm can win trust through cybersecurity and make your clients feel at ease with your data protection efforts.

1. The Cybersecurity-Trust Link for Professional Services Organization
2. Simple Ways to Build Trust Through Cybersecurity in a Professional Services Organization
3. Show Off Your Cybersecurity Efforts to Your Clients

(more…)

Every year, cyber attackers continue to grow more sophisticated, making it crucial for individuals and organizations to be prepared. From state-sponsored attackers to financially motivated ransomware gangs, these attacks are becoming more sophisticated and destructive as the technology industry continues to innovate.

However, this Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we are taking an Action over Intimidation approach to get ahead of cyber threats.

In this blog post, we’re here to offer valuable insights on optimizing your organization’s technology budget within its IT infrastructure. We’ll cover everything from generative AI technology to the reassurance provided by cyber insurance. Our aim is to help you gain a comprehensive understanding of how to make your cybersecurity investment deliver maximum value for your money. (more…)

This year, Konica Minolta is marking a significant milestone as we commemorate a century and a half of breakthrough innovations. As a fast-paced technology driven company, it is in our DNA to evolve and adapt to what is going on in the world. Without the ability to bring ideas of all kinds to life, whether strategic, innovative or customer-driven, where would Konica Minolta even be today? (more…)

The healthcare industry is laden with administrative processes, and many of these can be manual, paper-based, time-consuming and prone to errors. A simple visit to your doctor, a submission of a referral to a specialist, or scheduling a procedure will trigger a flurry of paperwork to be completed, and that’s only the beginning of the process.

Manual processes are dependent on having a well-trained and experienced staff of people working around the clock to ensure this process runs smoothly. However, even that is not a guarantee of success.

The sheer volume of patients and procedures combined with the number of forms that need to be completed, compounded by the staffing crisis in healthcare has caused healthcare facilities to fall behind. This often results in referrals not being followed up on, stacks of forms waiting to be entered into the system, clinicians taking work home with them to be completed after hours, delays in submission of services to insurance for payment, denial of payment due to errors in coding, and incorrect invoicing of patients. (more…)

Every year our security experts see a huge uptick in fraud and other cybercrimes around the holidays. The story of holiday scams is now a familiar one. We have all seen phishing scam emails that pretend to be legit online sellers trying to get you to click something you shouldn’t or enter your personal information where you shouldn’t.

There is no shortage of creative ways for cybercriminals to harm individuals and organizations, especially in today’s remote and hybrid work environments. A holiday phishing scam that one employee falls for can have a significant impact across your entire company, particularly if the malware is executed and spreads. Hackers can then exploit security vulnerabilities, causing financial turmoil, data theft, and business disruption across the network. (more…)

Data can put your business on a level playing field with the giants of your industry. Your smartest competitors are already investing in data-driven infrastructures to power data-driven futures. But how exactly can you make the most of the opportunities that data-driven decision making can offer? The first step is to get clear visibility of the data that matters to your business. Don’t risk getting left behind. (more…)

If there’s one thing we can safely say about the future of work, it’s that we are going through a significant period of change. With technological, social, environmental, and generational shifts impacting our priorities, work can no longer be defined as a physical space we go to, nor does it relate to a set schedule of ‘on’ hours each day. And while the events of the past year have brought an increased focus on what the future of work or the “next normal” will be, in reality, work has been evolving steadily for years. Today we can stay connected from almost anywhere, from homes, offices, to the air, or even on a cruise ship! This capability was critical for organizations to manage through the pandemic and will continue to be a key priority in the months and years that follow. (more…)

Secure Cloud Information Management (SCIM) is the right cloud-based document management system to help your business adjust to post-Covid realities. Reflecting on this past Covid year anniversary, I wondered; have small and midsize businesses (SMBs) adapted to the accelerated work from home trend? What steps has your business made to adapt to the new working reality? Most SMBs weren’t set up for Work from Home (WFH), and still aren’t, facing daily productivity and security issues. Have you created an email chain to chase down a document? Or TRIED to retrieve a document that resides in a system not accessible from your home network. FRUSTRATING. This happened to a colleague a few weeks ago! These challenges can cause unnecessary bottlenecks for your employees. And pose a security risk to your business. Discover how to gain control over your documents and minimize the security risks of WFH by levering a cloud-based document management system. (more…)

Power PDF 4 provides powerful PDF management that’s built for business users. Learning is fast since it works like Office desktop products. Since Power PDF meets simple to complex needs and provides strong security, IT teams can standardize on a single tool. Check out our blog, The Power of PDF Software Tools and learn the benefits of using Power PDF for your business. The new release takes a huge leap forward in search and redaction accuracy through Kofax’s award winning OCR technology.  Integration has expanded, including Microsoft OneDrive.  And there is greater adherence to accessibility standards.

(more…)