The growing number of cyberattacks may have increased the awareness of the need for cyber security, but many individuals and companies remain vulnerable, Shark Tank star and cyber security expert Robert Herjavec told BNN in an interview Tuesday.
Herjavec is best known as one of the judges on the Shark Tank. But high-profile cyberattacks and hacking incidents are changing that, he said.
“I used to go to Hollywood parties and people would say, ‘Oh, you’re the guy on Shark Tank.’ Now I go and they say, ‘Oh, you’re the guy on cyber-security,” Herjavec said.
Herjavec made the comments as more than 10,000 governments, companies and other organizations around the globe are currently battling a massive ransomware attack by unknown hackers. The cyber threat, dubbed WannaCry, is so-called crypto-ransomware that encrypts and makes computer files inaccessible until a ransom is paid by an individual or company.
Bell Canada separately announced on Monday an anonymous hacker obtained some customer names, telephone numbers and email addresses. The telecommunications giant, and parent company of BNN, said about 1.9 million email addresses and 1,700 customer names and active phone numbers were affected in the breach that was not connected to WannaCry. And Walt Disney Co. CEO Robert Iger reportedly told staff on Monday that hackers are threatening to leak one of the studio’s films unless it pays a ransom.
Those are just the latest in what has been an increasing wave of cyberattacks, according to Herjavec. His company used to track about a billion incidents of improper cyber activity every month; he said that number is now closer to 100 billion.
And while companies are taking cyber threats more seriously, Herjavec said many individuals are still leaving themselves vulnerable.
“My Hollywood friends [say] I am perfectly secure because I don’t run Windows,” he said. “No you are not, any device can be breached.”
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