Top 7 Cybersecurity Threats To Look Out For

In order for cyber security to be carried out effectively within an organisation, there are several factors that must be considered. The first is the expertise and the second is a holistic approach to tackling any issue.

Estimates put the costs in damages per year at around $6 trillion, which is a 100% increase, over the past five years alone. 

A data breach can have huge financial ramifications for a company. For this reason many businesses are forced to have their data protection plan in order, just to ensure the safety of their infrastructure. 

As each day passes, computer hackers are constantly looking for new attack methods, searching for new vulnerabilities that they can exploit. This has led to new and creative ways of deploying malware, ransomware and phishing scams. 

In order to properly tackle this problem, businesses are forced to work with IT companies that are best equipped to deal with the cybersecurity concerns of their businesses. These IT companies task themselves with providing continuous monitoring, and training of staff, all of which are designed to create an effective computer security strategy. 

While hackers are constantly coming up with new ways of exploiting their victims, there are a number of attack methods that remain consistent. It’s in your best interest, to, at the very least, be familiar with them. 

1. Third Party Software

Around one thousand third-party resources are utilised by just 30 of the best ecommerce sites in America, with close to 25% of these assets having at least one security vulnerability. If just one of these applications becomes compromised, it can open up the door for hackers to exploit. On average, you’re looking at around $4 million, for the average cost of a data breach. 

According to recent statistics, around 40% of all data breaches were carried out using web applications, and the vast majority of organisations (80%+) experienced a data breach as a result of a vulnerability in one of their third-party resources. Last, year, we witnessed security issues to companies such as Instagram, and Spotify, all as a result of a third-party vulnerability. 

2. IoT-based Attacks

IoT attacks are security threats that target specifically internet-connected smart devices, such as home appliances. An attack will compromise one of these devices by infecting it with a virus, which they then use to remotely control it. These specific attacks are directed solely at IoT devices because they are still overlooked when it comes to security updates and patches. This makes them much easier targets. 

All organisations should know how many IoT devices they have connected to their network. It’s also important that security patches and updates are constantly rolled out along with the required monitoring. Before setting up a new IoT device, it’s always a good idea to check whether or not it’s using the latest firmware. You should also structure your security system to be able to adequately protect anything and everything that you attach to your network system. 

3. DDoS Attacks

For a large number of organisations DDoS or distributed denial of service attacks are a huge problem for them. These cyberattacks are designed specifically to overwhelm the resources of a network, effectively causing it to crash. The exact method of these kinds of attacks do vary however, so things can be pretty circumstantial – you’ll need to be up to speed, on all the different kinds of attacks. It’s for this reason why DDoS attacks are seen as a major security threat. 

4. Ransomware Attacks

The risk of confidential data being encrypted by a malicious file, is always there. A ransomware attack is essentially a virus that infiltrates the system and encrypts the data contained in it. The ransom part comes into it, when it comes to regaining access to the content. The victim is given the option of paying a ransom or lose their content forever. 

The best way of protecting your system and data from these kinds of attacks is to use an internet security tool, such as an antivirus and firewall program. These tools are designed specifically to halt these kinds of attacks within your network system. 

Additionally, you’ll want to have a disaster recovery plan in place, along with a business continuity plan. If a business has a cloud-based disaster recovery plan in place, then it will be able to recovery from these types of attacks. When it comes to the businesses continuity plan, these plans are designed to help the users better restore their data, with minimal impact on workflows and productivity. 

5. Security Vulnerabilities 

It’s not uncommon for computer hackers to target security vulnerabilities in the software used by many businesses. In many cases, these programs have security updates that are capable of plugging up these holes. However, oftentimes, these security patches and updates are not applied. The end result is a business that has an exposed network, leaving it vulnerable to potential attacks. 

6. Internal Attacks

When it comes to cybersecurity threats, one of the biggest threats a business will ever face is its own employees. Because the employees have full access to the network system, they are in the best position to cause harm to the business, especially if they choose to abuse their position within the company. In other circumstances, they may accidentally allow their account to be used to cause harm to the network, by downloading an infected program or file. 

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the employee does pose the biggest risk to your company. Which is why it’s important your workforce is always up to speed on the needs and wants of the company. 

7. BYOD Threats 

BOYD stands for bring your own device, and these kinds of threats represent a large portion of cybersecurity threats. Close to 60% of all IT security specialists think that BOYDs represent the largest and most significant threat to endpoint security. 

A large number of organisations encourage their employed to use their own devices when in the workplace, this is done to improve productivity, boost morale and make work more flexible. However, when companies opt to go down this path, they should also implement new stringent security rules, so as to avoid any future compromises. 

The workaround is for employees to be educated on the importance of BOYD security policies, which should ensure they adhere to them, this in turn will prevent any future compromises. 

–AUTHOR INFO—

Uchenna Ani-Okoye is a former IT Manager who now runs his own computer support website https://www.compuchenna.co.uk