Cyber security is not a joke. People tend to think that those that face the greatest threats are the multimillion multinational companies. The truth of the matter is that, in reality, they spend substantial amounts of money to keep their data storage safe. The ones in danger are small and medium sized businesses, famous individuals, and any other person or entity that can produce monetary profit for the perpetrators of such crimes. The reason is quite simple: they tend to be more vulnerable since their security protocols, if they even exist, are rarely updated. That’s why more and more SMBs continue to hire the first class services of a professional security team.
The first step to cyber-crime prevention, is to be aware of the dangers our systems face. The top 3 cyber security threats and how to safeguard against, are listed below:
Social engineering and third-party exposure
Curiously enough, the most vulnerable link of the chain isn’t a part of the system per se. It’s the people that manage and/or use it. In fact, many security breaches come from tactics that usually involve tricking people into downloading malware, or giving up their credentials.
The most common method is through email phishing attacks, a type of social engineering scam where hackers present themselves as legitimate entities, asking for some kind of confirmation or update that will allow them to acquire access to the network. However, employees may not be the only targets. Third parties, like contractors that have privileged access to your database, can become a liability too, especially if their own systems are vulnerable.
Misconfiguration and poor security practices
Leaving any system, regardless of the level of security requirements, without customization of the safety parameters, is like inviting the devil over. Many hackers take advantage of scanning software that identifies such weaknesses and exploits them to the max. After all, every system is vulnerable if the attackers know exactly how it works. Additionally, well-defined settings, though clearly a must in the current era, are only effective when they are actually implemented. Unfortunately, out of all the companies that take the first step to safety, a great majority fail to implement and maintain their web security measures, rendering the whole process ineffective.
Moreover, there is a lack of training in this specific area for non-IT staff. As a matter of fact, many workers do not understand the real value their credentials have and end up mismanaging the risks involved. A clear example of this is the rotation of passwords. Because, truth be told, the number of passwords that a person needs to remember keeps increasing, a common practice is to use the same ones for everything. What hackers do is to attack more vulnerable systems and then use the acquired details to access the ones they are really after.
Ransomware
While the risks we previously mentioned are indeed dangerous, they usually form only the first step of large-scale attacks. Basically, cyber-criminals’ ultimate goal is to make money. That’s why ransomware is now a common operation. The practice usually includes that once they have gain complete control of a system, they encrypt the files stored in it, so that the owner in effect lose the ownership. Then they ask for huge amounts of money in order to return the ownership.
Furthermore, there may be additional ransom to be paid, so that the stolen information does not get leaked online. Should the case be and it is data that can result into game changing conditions (as for example would happen in industrial espionage), then the amount can go sky high as it becomes a highest bidder proposition. Whoever pays the most, gets the info. And it may not be the initial owner.
Better safe than sorry
An even greater danger for anyone that falls victim to such crimes, comes through the law suites and penalties that they will have to pay to their clients and any other person’s or entity’s information that falls into the wrong hands. As aforementioned, the big companies can survive the damage and stay in business. However, the small and medium ones usually end up closing shop after a cyber-attack. Individuals may be forced to forfeit the entirety of their estate. The law says that anyone who gathers data that pertains to privileged information of others, must deploy all the proper safety measures to safeguard that data.
That’s why it is important to prepare, implement and maintain a series of protocols and practices that will prevent the initial breach. Among the most effective ones currently in existence we can count:
- Divide your network into segments. It would make it more difficult for attackers to gain complete control.
- Have backups for all your data on different secure servers. Even better if air-gapped solutions are implemented. The term denotes storage devices that are attached only during the backup process and then get disconnected from the network. During the procedure the internal network must be isolated from out-of-premises access.
- Provide proper cyber security training to all employees, as well as run risk awareness campaigns.
- Create security policies that avoid at all costs the rotation of passwords and the gathering of corporate credentials.
- Encourage the use of password managers, which are highly encrypted vaults that keep all credentials safe and require only a master key. Through those, you and your employees could assign higher level key phrases without the need to remember them, or, even worse, have them written down somewhere.
- Implement two-step verification protocols, for an additional layer of security. For extremely sensitive areas, biometrics may need to be considered.
There is only one axiom here. Computers only understand 1s and 0s. If they are given the correct numbers, they will do what they are supposed to. Sadly, it’s all on the human component of the equation. To provide the proper binary code, it is always best to enlist the assistance of a team of goal-oriented, ambitious and creative people that can design and implement a cyber-security plan adapted specifically to the per case needs.