There are a lot of threats when it comes to the safety of your business, but cybersecurity has been an increasingly hot topic over the past few years – for good reason. Here we are going to discuss 8 common cybersecurity threats and a solution for each of them. Understanding how your business could be vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks is the first line of defense, and many business insurance companies are now requiring proof of cybersecurity before providing coverage.
Malware is a malicious type of software (a virus) that can be installed onto your device in a multitude of different ways. A lot of the things we are talking about on this list are considered malware such as ransomware, botnets, and spyware.
IT Security assessments, managed Firewalls, end user cybersecurity training, and ransomware assessments
The most common type of social engineering is phishing. We have all seen a phishing attempt and many have fallen victim to them at some point in their lives. This is where someone uses deceptive tactics to manipulate a person into sharing personal or confidential information. The hacker’s goal with this type of cybersecurity attack is to trick the victim into installing malware onto their device.
Cybersecurity Awareness or Training. It sounds simple, but the best defense against this type of attack is education your employees on how to spot attack attempts and who to notify if you receive one. This type of training should be done frequently, and notices should go out to all employees when new phishing attempts tactics are noticed
Ransomware is a type of malware that is created to encrypt data, making it inaccessible until the ransom is paid to the attacker (hence the name ransomware). This can mean that your business’s proprietary information or entire operating system is inaccessible to you until you pay the attacker.
Ransomware assessments and IT Security Assessments. This means having a cybersecurity team analyze your network and systems to ensure there are no entry points for these types of attacks.
DDoS Attacks focus on disruption of servers. Meaning the hacker overwhelms their targeted server or network by flooding it with traffic. This will bring all internet related business operations to a stop.
DDoS Mitigation, which involves detecting abnormal web traffic, diverting or redirecting the traffic, and filtering out the “bad” traffic while allowing clean traffic to pass through. These events are logged and analyzed to improve the tool as time goes on.
A Cross-site Scripting attack is when a hacker goes after weaknesses in their victim’s web applications and APIs to inject scripts into their web pages. This results in the hackers having the ability to bypass access controls put in place by the owner and allows them to perform actions they shouldn’t be able to perform – such as stealing personal information from forms or contact requests.
App and API Security practices, Bot Management, and IT Security Assessments.
A Botnet attack is where a hacker places a bot or a small piece of software on a website, app, or end user to steal information. This type of attack can also be used to disrupt business functions.
App and API Security with Bot management
This type of attack is used to fake identity, tamper with data or proprietary information, clear out data bases, or steal data in general. A hacker does this by injecting SQL code into web applications where vulnerabilities are present.
Application and API Security practices and tools. Ensuring that the website or any web applications are safe and secure.
Credential Stuffing is where a hacker uses stolen login information or credentials to access web applications. This can be done manually by a human or automated and done on a large scale.
IT Security Assessments, App and API Security tools, Bot Management. Training staff on password and credential safety is also important in preventing this kind of attack. Frequently changing passwords is a great way to mitigate this.
As you can see there are a ton of different types of cybersecurity attacks out there. The good news is that many of them can be prevented with the same cybersecurity tools. We partner with multiple cybersecurity firms to bring options to our customers. The solutions we mentioned above are all offered by our partner, Lumen, and we would love to help you find a solution to fit your needs and budget while keeping your business safe.