Cyber Security Threats are on the Rise: How to Protect Your Company from Cyber Attacks

Written by Sarah Johnston, Director of Payroll

Cybersecurity threats are on the rise. New reports of data attacks, phishing scams, and employee impersonations have been ever more visible over the last year. National data collected between 2023 and 2024 revealed a 34% increase in the exploitation of organizational vulnerabilities resulting in security breaches.[1] And in their 2024 year-end report, Cisco, a national technology group known for data security, reported “Information Stealers” as the number one cybersecurity threat to organizations, having identified 246 million instances of such breaches among its customers.[2]

The emergence of advanced AI tools and increased reliance on digital platforms make it ever more critical that organizations protect their sensitive data. What are some steps you can take to minimize your organization’s exposure?

1. Educate your staff on how to identify and prevent phishing attacks.
2. Implement proper new hire screening to mitigate potential risks. Ask our Client Support team about E3’s background check service and compliance guidance.
3. Eliminate username and password sharing. Make sure each of your authorized staff has their own unique login for any applications your organization uses, including E3’s Prism database.
4. Use E3’s secure ShareFile platform to share sensitive data. Company and employee tax IDs, SSNs, and account information should never be submitted by email.
5. Look into enabling Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for the applications your organization uses. E3 actively utilizes MFA for all internal and external Prism and ShareFile users.
6. Reach out to E3’s Client Support team to learn about other Prism-integrated options to further improve secure data access. These include:

1. • Employee self-onboarding
   • Kurensē pay cards
   • TIMECO time and labor resources
   • Client-driven payroll importing

[1] Verizon Communications Inc., Verizon 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report (Verizon Business, 2025), 21, http://verizon.com/dbir.

[2] Cisco, Cyber Threat Trends Report: From Trojan Takeovers to Ransomware Roulette (Cisco, 2024), 2-3, https://learn-cloudsecurity.cisco.com/umbrella-library/cyber-threat-trends-report.