The world of cybersecurity is ever changing. As new measures are put in place to counter threats, new threats are being introduced.
It is important that a business stays on top of its security and is knowledgeable of the threats there are. It is also necessary to note that there is no “one size fits all” approach to cyber security or to managing cyber security threats. As a business, it is essential to hire the service of experts who can set up a security system to protect your business or help recover lost data.
Here are cyber threats every business should know about and how to protect your business from them:
- Ransomware: This is malicious software (malware). A computer infected with ransomwarewill display a message demanding for a fee to unlock and recover personal data. It is often introduced to a business network through phishing emails with attachments or links with malware.
To prevent this attack, a business should educate its employees about the dangers of malware and downloading suspicious contents that might contain ransomware. Backing up your data is also another measure as it makes it easier to recover data in the event of an attack. Another preventive measure is having software that scans all email attachments for malware; it can identify any dangerous content and prevent it from being downloaded.
- Distributed Denial of Service: This is a highly sophisticated attack that prevents access to a computer’s resources. To carry out this attack, the attacker targets a weak spot in the computer system and uses the information gained to attack other related systems.
To prevent this attack, use a DDoS defender that guards against bandwidth and application attacks. Application of the tools specifically designed for this purpose can stop a potential attack. Using a cloud-based application is another way to prevent an attack as this is difficult for criminals to infiltrate.
- Insider Threat: One misconception is that biggest cybersecurity threat to a business will come from outside but the biggest threat to a business’ cybersecurity is its own employees. Some of these attacks are accidental like sharing their workplace credentials with an outsider, unknowingly downloading a compromised attachment, and bringing personal devices to work. Setting up rules to guide the use of personal devices at the workplace is one way to mitigate this attack.
Also, limiting employees’ access to resources required specifically for their jobs can equally prevent this threat and reduce the effects if it occurs. Training employees on cybersecurity and likely threats will make them less likely to become a victim of a phishing attack.
- Uneven Cyber Security Protection: Hacking was responsible fornearly 60% of data breach incidents in 2016, according to the Verizon Data Breach Report. An uneven cybersecurity system can serve as an entry point to other parts of the network. Because of this, it is important to make sure that any security solution applied to a specific problem or aspect of the system applies to all areas.
A regular IT asset audit is also another way to confirm the status of every asset on the network and make sure that all cyber security solutions are applied evenly.
- SEO Spam: This is malicious software installed on servers to create web pages or modifythose already in existence to damage a competitor’s SERP ranking. The attacker can post links that redirect to an external website or just bad links. A business website can be penalised by search engines for a spam attack. This can also damage the site’s ranking. SEO spam kits, used in the attack, can slow down a site’s performance.
Implementing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) is a way to prevent this attack. It works swiftly and is efficient at blocking malicious and suspicious bots.
The fight against cybersecurity threats should be proactive, not reactive. Every business owner should take measures to prevent his assets from these attacks.