Cyber security: Understand the complete security concept that seeks to shield companies from the current scenario of cyber attacks. If you’re looking to stay up to date on current news and trends, you’ve undoubtedly come across a headline or call for cyberattack cases.
The topic has been gaining exponential gravity due to the scalability of the criminal organizations behind the attacks. The World Economic Forum annually releases a global risks report identifying society’s principal risks. In the 16th edition, released on January 19, 2021, “Cybersecurity Failure” was recognized as one of the ten most relevant risks.
The subject has alarmed the world due to the frequent incidence and the increasingly harmful impact of actions. Over time, traditional viruses evolved into more sophisticated artefacts (ransomware), threatening the technological environments of companies and governments worldwide. According to IBM’s annual report, 2021 saw the highest average cost per breach in 17 years. This means that companies spent 4.24 million dollars with a data breach attack on the average calculated by the news.
When a cyber threat occurs, it may have been motivated by ideological or financial reasons, the latter being the most prevalent. Criminal organizations seek to exploit security flaws in the technological environment of companies, often hijacking sensitive data and discontinuing their operation and demanding an amount in return so that the company can resume its activities. Most countries have already evolved legislation protecting personal data so that a data leak can have serious financial, legal and image consequences for companies.
“In these criminal networks, each one has a pre-defined role; there are professionals who are dedicated to developing the virus, others who spread it within technological environments and others who work to exploit the vulnerabilities of this environment the virus and cause the impact, they act calmly, moving around in the environment, escalating privileges, collecting information, and then executing the attack.”
How Do These Attacks Happen?
Cyber attacks stem from exploiting security flaws in environments, especially obsolete ones, configuration problems and, often, human error. One of the main methods of controlling human error is Phishing, a technique used to induce users to pass information and the attacker to gain access to the desired environment. The most common way to apply the Phishing method is through emails. The criminal produces a fake email with similar characteristics to the original, usually with a link that directs you to fill in data or an attached file.
Which, when running it, installs some malware on the user’s machine. In this case, professionals must be trained frequently to identify these emails or malicious activities and, thus, It should be noted that Phishing is one of the gateways for Ransomware attacks to occur. In this type of malware, the infected device has its data encrypted, and therefore whoever operates the attacked device can no longer access it. The perpetrator charges a ransom in cash or cryptocurrency to return access and operations.
What Can I Do To Protect My Company?
There is no such thing as 100% shielding against any attack. These criminal organizations are always on the lookout for new threats and tools that are increasingly sophisticated to exploit security flaws. What is possible and should be of concern to the company is to make the intrusion process as difficult as possible through awareness, acculturation of all employees, Phishing tests, protection of the corporate environment, double and multiple checks and hiring a more Efficient, new generation.
“It is necessary to have a robust and integrated program, which is no longer just for information security, but also for cyber security and data protection, which preventively identifies and treats vulnerabilities in the company’s internal environment and secure communication with the external environment.
Common, best-known, and most accessible antiviruses operate with a viral memory. They only protect against existing viruses, which antiviruses are already prepared to defend against. The new generation antivirus mentioned above, called EDR (endpoint detection and response), works by monitoring behaviors, identifying abnormalities and acting preventively.
Also Read: The Challenges Of Cloud Cybersecurity