Kow Abundant was the target of a cybersecurity attack and it almost got hold of us. This is the account of what happened and how we narrowly escaped with the help from cybersecurity expert A-Jay Orr. A-Jay Orr is a Veteran, 3x Award-Winning Author, founding member of the Ohio Chamber of Commerce for Veterans and the CEO of SimplePlan IT. He is a digital risk management expert with more than 15 years of experience in the ever-evolving field of technology and cybersecurity.
How Cybercriminals Targeted Kow Abundant
It all started with a text message from a potential client asking if we do website design and other services and that they needed help with an upcoming project. The client asked us if we can build a site for them and gave us the specs and said that they needed it done quickly. The text messages were consistent and overall the dialogue sounded natural to keep us involved. The whole conversation lasted a few hours and they were patient as we talked with our team to get a quote and proposal to them.
Text message from cyber scammers
“They are getting more sophisticated with their scams”
“They are getting more sophisticated with their scams” said A-Jay Orr. Cybercriminals are adapting their tactics and doing it very well. We could not tell that this was fake until the very last moment when we took a step back and consulted with cybersecurity expert A-Jay Orr from SimplePlan IT.
After speaking with the client and even chatting over email and text message we sent them a proposal to review. Then they said something that was strange to us. They “asked for a favor”. They wanted to use our payment processor to pay another vendor and they said they would “cushion” or give us a tip to do this paying us more. It was at this point some alarm bells went off in our heads and we decided to bring in A-Jay Orr to take a look.
Cybercriminals asking for an odd favor
After bringing this to A-Jay’s attention, he quickly addressed this as a scam and recommended us to avoid further contact and close off any proposals or invoices to them. At that point we informed them that their request was being reviewed by a security advisor and shortly after that their request was denied from the security team. After we told them that they did not initiate any more contact with us. It is of note that this scam could have potentially been for thousands of dollars of theft.
This scam was for several thousand in theft potentially from us.
By following our gut, and listening to the signs, we were able to avoid this scam and limit any further liability to ourselves or our clients. No client data was sent or lost during this interaction and all communications were severed after this interaction. Thank you A-Jay for your efforts and assistance and if any small business needs cyber help we recommend contacting A-Jay or a trained cybersecurity expert to help you. We also have insurance that covers such liability in this case and recommend those in the tech sectors to have that as well. Contact an agent for coverage.
Top 5 Ways To Keep Your Business Safe This Holiday From Cyber Threats
- Watch Text Messages People Send You
- Educate Your Employees & Yourself
- Dont Use Public WIFI
- Use Credit Cards NOT Debit Cards
- Update Your Security Software
Key Stats for Cybersecurity and Small Businesses
– Small businesses deal with cybersecurity in a big way, in fact, 42% of small businesses experienced a cyber attack in the last year!
– 59% of small business owners with no cybersecurity measures in place believe their business is too small to be attacked.
– 37% of companies hit by ransomware had fewer than 100 employees.
– 51% of small businesses that fall victim to ransomware pay the money.
– One-third of small businesses with 50 or fewer employees rely on free, consumer-grade cybersecurity solutions.
Watch the Full Interview Video
Resources:
We have a free resource for you from A-Jay. Download this and review it and share it with your team. Learn the Social Engineering Red Flags
Contact A-Jay Orr on LINKEDIN LINK – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ajayorr/
Checkout the SIMPLEPLAN IT WEBSITE – https://simpleplanit.com/
Stats provided by https://www.strongdm.com/blog/small-business-cyber-security-statistics
and by https://advisorsmith.com/data/small-business-cybersecurity-statistics/
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