Intro to Cyberthreats
A security cyberthreat is a potential danger or harm from using digital technologies or the internet. It encompasses various forms of malicious activity, including hacking, data breaches, phishing, malware attacks, ransomware, and other cyberattacks that may result in theft, destruction, or manipulation of data and compromise of sensitive information.
Cyberthreats can target individuals, organizations, or governments. They can be perpetrated by cybercriminals, hacktivists, state-sponsored actors, or insiders with malicious intent. They can have serious consequences, such as financial loss, reputation damage, and legal penalties.
To protect against cyberthreats, adopting cybersecurity best practices such as using strong passwords, keeping software up to date, implementing firewalls and antivirus software, and being vigilant for suspicious activity is essential.
Types of Security Cyberthreats
As web usage increases, so do the possibility to threats in terms of exposure volume alone. There once was a time where you could fly under the radar as a small online business and avoid an onslaught of threats. That is no longer the case. Below are the most common cyberthreats you may encounter.
· Phishing scams
Phishing emails still pose a major threat to the digital landscape of many business organizations across the globe. COVID-19 communications have provided the perfect cover for these emails to lure unsuspecting users. By creating a sense of urgency, these emails might persuade your employees to click on malware links that could steal sensitive data or install malicious viruses inside a computer.
· Ransomware
Targeted ransomware attacks are increasing every day. It is estimated that a ransomware attack will happen every 11 seconds in 2021. Ransomware attacks hold an organization’s critical data for a ransom, and millions of dollars are paid to hackers every year as corporates do not want to risk losing their sensitive data. However, there is no guarantee that your files will be secure even after you pay the ransom.
· Cloud Jacking
With the cloud becoming a more sophisticated way of storing data, incidents of cloud jacking has become a serious threat. These attacks are mainly executed in two forms – injecting malicious code into third-party cloud libraries or injecting codes directly to the cloud platforms. As estimated by the 2020 Forcepoint Cybersecurity Predictions, a public cloud vendor is responsible for providing the infrastructure while most of the responsibility concerning data security rests with the users. So, bear in mind, you are mostly responsible for your data security even when it is on the cloud.
· Man-in-the-middle attack
Hackers can insert themselves in a two-party transaction when it happens on a public network. Once they get access, they can filter and steal your data. If your remote working employees use public networks to carry out their official tasks, they are vulnerable to these attacks.
· Distributed Denial-of-Service attack
This attack happens when hackers manipulate your normal web traffic and flood the system with resources and traffic that exhaust the bandwidth. As a result, users will not be able to perform their legitimate tasks. Once the network is clogged, the attacker will be able to send various botnets to the network and manipulate it.
Protecting Your Business from Security Cyberthreats
Security readiness is something all organizations must focus on irrespective of their size. It is mandatory to have an action plan that outlines what needs to be done when something goes wrong. Most importantly, it is critical to have a trusted MSP partner who can continuously monitor your IT infrastructure and give you a heads-up on usual activities.
Investing in security for cyberthreats is way cheaper than losing your critical data or paying a large ransom. You need to deploy advanced solutions that can keep up with the sophisticated threats of this modern age. Then, there is a list of best practices such as multi-factor authentication, DNS filtering, disk encryption, firewall protection, and more.
If all these aspects of cybersecurity sound daunting to you, fret not. Reach out to us today to get a full understanding of the vulnerabilities in your network and how you can safeguard your data with the right tools and techniques.
HazeyTech’s Managed IT Services can provide the peace of mind you need to take threat out of cyber security.
