Security threats can have a devastating effect on businesses, both large and small. With cyber-attacks, data breaches, and other malicious activities on the rise, it’s essential to be aware of the top 5 security threats impacting businesses and how to protect your company against them. By understanding the most common security threats and taking the necessary steps to protect your business, you can help to protect your business from the potential dangers of being targeted by cyber-criminals. Knowing the risks and the steps you need to take to keep your business secure will help you stay one step ahead of the hackers, ensuring your business and its data remain safe.
Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts a user’s data, making it unreadable until the user pays the cyber-criminals behind the attack a ransom. Ransomware can infect any active internet connection device, including computers, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and smart TVs. Once it infects a device, ransomware uses various tactics to trick the user and get them to activate the malware, including presenting notifications or fake alerts that trick the user into thinking their computer has crashed or misleading the user into thinking the ransomware is a legitimate application, such as a payment system or a tax refund system. Once activated, the ransomware encrypts a user’s data, making it unreadable until the user pays the cyber-criminals behind the attack a ransom.
Globally there are thought to be 30,000 websites are hacked a day, and in many cases, the ransomware will be on in the system long before it’s detected.
Supply Chain Attacks
Real-world events often inspire cybersecurity attacks, and in recent years, we’ve seen several attacks inspired by the transportation of goods. These supply chain attacks target parts of the supply chain to disrupt the flow of goods between manufacturers and retailers. Real-world events like the cargo of ships carrying oil and the delivery of natural gas were used by hackers to launch these attacks, while some have been more abstract, like the use of software to take down Amazon’s website during the Christmas shopping season. In this type of attack, cybercriminals attempt to disrupt the supply chain by targeting parts of the process that rely on trust between trusted parties. If this isn’t detected, it can affect many different businesses by simply targeting the middleman, so to speak.
Unsecured Premises
While it’s essential to keep your premises secure, it’s equally important to ensure that you’re following all relevant security protocols, keeping your premises and your employees safe from the potential dangers that may exist in your environment. Unsecured premises are often the result of a lack of security awareness, poor business practices, or a combination of the two. You can do this by limiting unannounced visitors, putting a key card entry on all doors, having all staff wear employee ID badges, or hiring a security company to monitor who enters and leaves the building or your premises to reduce and deter trespassers.
Using Unsecured Networks
An investment in a fully secured network is a vital component of any security plan. While it’s essential to ensure your network is fully secured, on an unsecured network, it may be possible for cyber-criminals to access your data, especially if you’re using public Wi-Fi networks that aren’t protected with a password or security protocol. While using public Wi-Fi networks is convenient, it also presents several risks, mainly because you may be using an unsecured network that could allow cyber-criminals access to your computer or network. You can avoid this by using VPNs and ensuring all employees have access to enhanced security or personal hotspots to avoid using public networks.
Intentional Acts of Destruction
Destruction attacks are becoming more common because they’re cheap to execute and easy to cover up, making it hard for organizations to detect and prove that the destruction was actually an intentional act rather than an accident. Destruction attacks can have a devastating effect on businesses, both large and small, as they’re relatively easy to execute, making it essential that you keep your data and computers as safe as possible against the threat of destruction attacks.
Other acts of destruction could be falling victim to vandalism for no reason other than coincidence, disgruntled employees carrying what they perceive to be revenge, or people targeting your business because they disagree with the company you carry out, primarily if you work in a sensitive industry such as female reproductive healthcare, animal testing facilities or even in many cases, owning a butchers shop as the rise of veganism and challenging climate control.
Password Attacks
A password attack is one of the most common types of security threat, with hackers attempting to access a computer or network using a password to gain access. While passwords are essential to maintaining a secure network, they’re also one of the most commonly used security threats. Because passwords are often used without thinking, they leave you particularly vulnerable to hackers and other malicious actors who may attempt to access your computer or network by using your password. It’s essential to ensure your passwords are unique and hard to guess, making them difficult to access by hackers who may be attempting to gain access to your network. Make it a policy that all passwords are changed regularly, i.e., on the first of every month or more frequently, to ensure that if anyone has gained access, they will be cut off once the passwords change.
Social Engineering Attacks
Social engineering attacks are one of the most dangerous types of cyber threats. They often involve tricking users into revealing their information, such as their username, password, or other confidential data. Social engineering attacks often involve tricking a user into revealing their username and password by impersonating a company or by impersonating a person the user trusts, such as a friend or family member. To successfully execute a social engineering attack, hackers often rely on common social cues, such as a phone call that appears to come from a company or person the user has business with, in order to trick the user into revealing their username and password. Social engineering attacks are on the rise thanks to the ever-increasing security options put in place by businesses and companies to secure data. This means the best way to gain access to what hackers want is to manipulate employees into giving out data without them even realizing they are doing so.
Phishing Scams
Phishing scams are one of the most common types of security threats. Hackers often use phishing scams to steal a victim’s login details, such as their username or password, by impersonating a legitimate company or website. Phishing scams are particularly dangerous as they often involve hackers attempting to steal a victim’s login details, such as their email address and password, by impersonating a legitimate company or website. Phishing scams are dangerous as they’re easy to execute, making it essential to keep your login details as safe as possible from hackers. If you receive a phishing email, ensure you don’t click any links or open any attachments, as they may contain malicious code that’ll allow hackers to steal your username and password.
Conclusion
As seen from the top 5 security threats impacting businesses and how to protect yourself, it’s essential to understand the risks and take the necessary steps to protect your business from the potential dangers that may exist. These steps include ensuring your premises are adequately secured, your network is fully secured, keeping your devices up-to-date with the latest security updates, and being aware of the most common social engineering attacks.
