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This article is sponsored by cloud houndis a cyber security company that specializes in hybrid solutions to protect critical business assets.
According to a recent study, businesses around the world report nearly 500 million ransomware attacks in 2022, a 38% increase in cyberattacks. This percentage is expected to rise further as cyberattacks become more sophisticated and large amounts of data are generated and stored by companies across industries.
Recognizing the negative impact cybercrime has on business, cloud hound Intervenes as a broker for robust solutions, providing comprehensive cybersecurity assessments tailored to provide advanced tools to detect, prevent, and respond to evolving cyberattacks. Cloudhound specializes in protecting cloud environments and protecting sensitive data, enabling organizations to proactively address the growing threat of cybercrime, ensuring business continuity in the face of growing cyber challenges and data vulnerabilities. Ensure resilience.
“At Cloudhound, we understand that true cybersecurity is a holistic effort woven into the fabric of the organization,” said Jack Sterling, co-founder of Cloudhound. “We provide a supplier-neutral, holistic approach that not only provides enterprises with advanced tools to detect, prevent, and respond to evolving threats, but also a security-first approach from the leader down. We believe that equipping organizations with the right tools and mindset can be the answer to the growing threat of cybercrime.”
Ransomware and cyberattacks can have a severe impact on an organization, impacting nearly every aspect of an organization’s operations, reputation, and financial stability. No industry is safe from cybercrime, and without proper preparation and protection, businesses can face significant financial loss, business disruption, data loss and theft, legal and regulatory consequences, and more. There is a nature. This makes it more important than ever for companies to invest in cyber protection.
- Cloudhound is a small, veteran-owned and operated company that provides hybrid security training and consulting services.
- They specialize in creating customized security solutions that meet a company’s specific needs and demands.
- We have partnered with Cloudhound veterans and various well-known cybersecurity vendors to provide our customers with comprehensive solutions.
Jack Sterling (JS): One of the lesser known things about Cloudhound is that we are not a vendor. We operate like an agency. We get to know our customers on an individual level to better understand their needs. By building a relationship with each client, we are able to build a fully customized cybersecurity solution using vendors that can meet the client’s unique needs.
Our most important asset is the trust of our customers. They trust us to be experts and never bring a substandard vendor to the bargaining table. The majority of my time is spent working with and interviewing potential vendors to ensure they meet the standards my clients expect. Our supplier network is constantly expanding and our existing suppliers are constantly improving and expanding their services.
I spend a lot of time in this area, so I know the inner workings of each vendor and what they can offer, and my clients can rely on this expertise. So, when an opportunity comes from a prospect or client, you can consult our database of vendors to determine which vendor best meets your client’s specific needs.
JS: We recently helped a network engineer working for a Fortune 1000 auto parts manufacturer. The manufacturer operates as a Tier 2 supplier focused on manufacturing essential automotive parts. They were hit by a ransomware attack that brought their business to a complete halt and found themselves in a critical situation. The impact was far-reaching, with systems encrypted, communication channels paralyzed, and goods unable to be sent or received.
A network engineer asked if there was an incident response team standing by that could assist with this issue. We identified him with one of our trusted vendor’s incident response teams and mobilized to address the situation. We believe that in such a serious ransomware event, it would be inappropriate to make the victimized party bear the upfront payment for our services.
Our incident response team has restored all affected systems and has been able to resume operations. He then presented an invoice for the services he provided and suggested an ongoing relationship with the client to prevent future attacks. Recognizing the value we brought, the client agreed and began offering a continuous security operations center as a service so that the same vendor’s incident response team could monitor all 1,500 endpoints in real time. .
JS: The past year has seen an explosion of generative AI models like ChatGPT. At the same time, there has been an almost 10x increase in social engineering and phishing attacks compared to this time last year. Social engineering can take many forms, including phishing emails, spam, phone calls, and deceptive text messages. Social engineering was the number one attack vector last year, but it has grown exponentially with the accessibility of AI.
Without AI, social engineering campaigns are labor intensive. For example, if someone wants to send you a phishing campaign, you’ll need to research your target, obtain their email address, and create content to send to them. Cybercriminals now rely on these generative AI tools to conduct investigations, create phishing campaigns, find decision makers in targeted companies, create targeted profiles for each company, and You can ask us to automatically create tailored, bespoke content for you.
Previously, all this work took about 10 hours. Now, anyone who knows how to use AI tools can do him in 10 minutes. So, it’s not like more people are doing this, but the same malicious attacker can perform the same attack with far less effort.
This is just another chapter in an already terrible book. Cybercrime is out of control. Too many companies are victimized and don’t talk about it. They pay the ransom and move on, but that only makes matters worse. But we can help. Cloudhound’s goal is to enable every employee within the company to play an active role in cybersecurity. We can provide the right tools and services to stop these attacks before your valuable data and sensitive information is compromised. Our comprehensive training, vendor network, and ongoing support enable individuals at every level of your organization to be a strong line of defense against cyberthreats.
Learn more about Cloudhound’s custom hybrid security solutions.