“Encryption is your friend, whether it’s on text messaging or if you have the capacity to use encrypted voice communication. Even if the adversary is able to intercept the data, if it is encrypted, it will make it impossible.”- CISA’s Jeff Green

Posted On 01.01.25, by i2m_adm

This month’s customer satisfaction score:96.14%

“Aaron’s kind and patient attitude is always appreciated!”

Encrypting Information

Back in December the U.S. government recommended caution for users texting between Apple and Android devices because of the lack of encryption. The recommendation followed news that there was a cyber attack involving private texts and phone calls.

encryption: “Encryption in cyber security is the conversion of data from a readable format into an encoded format. Encrypted data can only be read after it’s been decrypted… It is the simplest and most important way to ensure a computer system’s information can’t be stolen and read by someone who
wants to use it for malicious purposes” (via Kaseya).

Since text messages between Apple and Android users are not encrypted, it does mean there’s a possibility that someone could access and read your texts. There are ways around this – for instance using platforms that offer end to-end encryption, such as WhatsApp or Telegram.

As with all recommendations, we want you to understand what is at risk and how to protect yourself. You can certainly continue texting between Android and Apple devices – we simply want you to be aware that those texts are not encrypted and therefore can be accessed and read by a bad actor. If this is something that concerns you, switch to an encrypted messaging platform.
Read more here.

Say hello to our new COO!

As of the start of 2025, Rob Coleman is moving into the role of Chief Operations Officer, while Scott Miller moves into the role of Chief Financial Officer. This change comes as Rob is becoming a part owner at i2m! Please join us in congratulating Rob on this exciting new phase for him and for i2m!

“Encryption is your friend, whether it’s on text messaging or if you have the capacity to use encrypted voice communication. Even if the adversary is able to intercept the data, if it is encrypted, it will make it impossible.”- CISA’s Jeff Green

This month’s customer satisfaction score:96.14%

Encrypting Information

Say hello to our new COO!

Other Posts

According to the FBI, 80% of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error.

62% of Americans claim to use thes ame password across 3-7 different accounts (via SecureAuth).

Small to medium-sized businesse sare victims of the majority (64%) of today’s cyberattacks, and it’s because they are inadequately protected.

The onboarding process is an employee’s first impression of a company. First impressions matter and we want to help you make a good one!

A report by PwC found that 85% of customers said they will not do business with an organization if they are worried about its data practices.

According to Verizon’s 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, 96% of cyberattacks arrive by email.

According to ConnectWise, the most common causes of outages are: 53% cybersecurity event, 52% infrastructure or networking, 49% accidental deletion, 53% applications.

On average, a single cyberattack can cost a small business more than $200,000. – Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report

i2m has no marketing department. All of our clients come from word-of-mouth recommendations. We appreciate that you all take time to tell your friends about us!

Compared to hacking a secure network, it is much easier to download information from an unencrypted or unprotected laptop. This is a reality a lot of business owners and IT professionals fail to realise. – via Security Boulevard

The 2023 MGM hack, showed that even for well-prepared or technically advanced companies, ‘it is not a matter of if you get attacked, but when you get attacked’ – Gregory Moody, director of the cybersecurity program at UNLV

According to the FBI, the U.S. lost a record $12.5 billion to cyber crime in 2023 – a 22% increase from 2022 of the total losses, Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams resulted in over $2.9 billion in losses.

In a recent report, Google and Mandiant said they monitored 97 zero- day vulnerabilities exploited in the wild in 2023, a 50% increase compared to the previous year.

According to Connectwise, one of the best ways to prevent a cyber attack is to secure your email. Most attacks originate in email and choosing services designed to reduce spam is the best way to mitigate risk.

According to Connectwise, the average cost of a data incident is $4.35 million.

“CSAT isn’t about congratulating yourself; it’s about finding areas where you can improve. By spotting common complaints or issues, you can start making improvements.” -Stephen Spiegel, CrewHu

Hackers have the ability to connect stolen phone records to specific people and companies. They then use this information to initiate sophisticated social engineering attacks that prey on your emotions, such as fear.

As of October 2024, over 80% of small businesses have experienced a breach according to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC).

Last year alone, the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received reports from almost 12,000 victims reporting cyber security scams, resulting over $73 million in losses during last year’s holiday season.

According to the IBM® Cost of a Data Breach report, the average ransomware breach costs its victim USD 4.91 million.

68% of corporate endpoints are hit withdata breach attacks.via Watchguard

How Can We Help?

Our Trusted Partners