The unfortunate reality is that a lot of companies do not take cybersecurity seriously enough. In fact, because of this nonchalant attitude towards security, this inevitably results in over 60% of companies closing due to a major or significant cyberattack.
As we are now entering a new era, it’s very important that businesses are mindful of the various cyber threats they face. Are you keen on finding out about the different cyber security threats you may face? Do you have at least a vague understanding of the different cybersecurity vulnerabilities?
In this article, we will be looking at the most urgent cyber risks for this year and the years to follow. If you prepare yourself for these risks, then it can save you a great deal of pain, as these attacks are very numerous and very harmful.
1. Unknown Security Bugs
In any system, you’ll have numerous services and programs running in the background. All these programs need to interact and work with one another. As more and more programs interface with one another, this inevitably increases that complexity which can, in some cases lead to unknown security bugs, that cybercriminals will look to exploit.
2. Malware
Every single day a new malicious file is created, the vast majority of which are updated versions of already existing malicious files – hackers will make superficial changes to them so that they become unrecognizable to the antivirus scanners.
The malware types that any organization would want to look out for, include the following:
- Trojan: Trojans are like a delivery system for the deployment of malware. Trojans usually appear like legitimate programs and are designed to trick end users into downloading and installing them on their systems. These types of malicious threats are used for major attacks, as they are capable of bringing down entire network defense systems, by simply posing as a harmless program.
- Ransomware: The main purpose of these malicious files is to encrypt the data of an end user’s system, making it inaccessible to them. Once the first part is out of the way, the next step (of the hacker) is to demand payment for access to their data. If the victim decides not to pay, then the data is usually erased.
- Worms: These programs are designed to replicate and spread throughout a system. Once these worms are able to get onto your system, they will usually seek out some form of file sharing, so that they can spread to other systems.
Antivirus scanners tend to be most effective against these kinds of malicious threats. Providing you have all the correct software installed and running on your system, such threats should pose very little danger.
3. Medical Personal Data Breaches
This is a very specific threat that is capable of affecting all systems. Today, the vast majority of health services are accessible online. This makes them vulnerable to possible data breaches, which tend to be very lucrative to many hackers since they are able to obtain very sensitive information.
Smart medical equipment is also vulnerable to the risks that come with medical technology today. A cyberattack is capable of causing a syringe driver or heart monitor or some other very important medical equipment to fail, potentially resulting in either data loss or even death.
This makes cybersecurity a very real and very important consideration for healthcare providers.
4. Substandard Antivirus Software
All organizations require endpoint protection in order to protect them from cyberattacks on the network and individual computer(s). The antivirus software installed and running on these systems can oftentimes be bypassed by hackers, in order to access the organisation’s network system. Moreover, a lot of these antivirus programs are not designed to effectively combat these kinds of attacks by hackers, which tend to use the most sophisticated attack methods and malicious files. Digital Insights is able to provide Endpoint Detection and Response, which will provide a line of defense against these kinds of threats.
5. Office Data Breaches
These are amongst the most common kinds of cyber threats which is why it’s listed here, amongst the top 8 common cybersecurity vulnerabilities that you want to know about. Downloading a file or program from an untrusted source or clicking on the wrong link are all part of this attack type. The most effective way to combat these kinds of attacks is to educate the workforce on what to look out for, and how to properly attack these issues.
6. Sharing Sensitive Data
One of the most important aspects of cybersecurity is ensuring your most sensitive data is secure. When we look at, even the very best cloud services, we find that they are only able to provide a limited amount of defense against this kind of activity. Social media sharing is a relatively common situation that many fall into, and if very little is done about it, it can result in more severe situations. You don’t want any sensitive information such as passwords and usernames to be leaked all over the internet as this can result in huge damages for an organization in the long run.
7. MITM (Man in the Middle) Attack
When these kinds of attacks are being carried out, it means that communication data between two or more parties is being routed elsewhere. The hacker could thus, be manipulating or transferring the information to another source.
A MITM attack is basically when an individual log into an account on an incorrect page. Sensitive information can thus be decrypted or altered by malware, which is capable of reading, altering, and creating emails, amongst other things.
8. Third-Party Threats
If your company utilizes suppliers and contractors this could add to the already existing risks of the company. This is because any one of these contractors could have access to very sensitive data without your permission or knowledge. This in turn poses a danger to the company and also to your property rights.
Over 60% of all data breaches are as a result of a third party, so this is something to look out for.
AUTHOR INFO
Uchenna Ani-Okoye is a former IT Manager who now runs his own computer support website https://www.compuchenna.co.uk.
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