Cyber Threats We Can’t Ignore
The spectrum of cyberattacks looms larger than ever as if your business didn’t have enough to worry about right now. While it may seem like big names bear the brunt of digital disturbance, the reality is far frightening. More than 40% of cyberattacks are directed at small businesses according to the information provided by Verizon.
Now more than ever, small businesses can’t afford to have their core operations disrupted. Investing in cybersecurity infrastructure will be costly. Understanding the types of cyber threats out there is the first step to protecting yourself and your company against them.
These are some of the most common types of cyber-attacks:
1. Ransomware:
Ransomware or software that publishes private data or harms your business unless a ransom amount is given. It quickly become one of the biggest threats to small businesses. Many businessmen will be tempted to easily pay a ransom for things to return to normal but any business that’s breached once can be breached again.
While antivirus software is necessary to avoid the most sophisticated attacks, simply keeping your operating system updated can go a long way toward avoiding low-level ransomware incidents.
2. Phishing:
When Microsoft’s security team warns that a “epic” phishing scheme is now threatening operations across the country, you should probably pay attention. Phishing is an attempt to gain sensitive information by posing as some user or administrator and it’s rampant in today’s digital economy.
The only way to protect against phishing is to totally secure any and all internal communications within your company. Email encryption, vigilant user management and regular channel management are all required.
3. Inside Jobs:
Some of the business world’s most notorious hacking scandals from Sony to Ashley Madison weren’t caused by sophisticated outside agents. They came from within the company. As much as you may trust your employees, it takes just a sole frustrated employee to expose tremendous amounts of your company’s data.
Unlike the other entries on this list, the solution to internal cybersecurity is more about rustic care than digital. Openly communicate with your workers about the confidentiality of the data they have access to and always be open to listening to the difficulties your team may be going through. You’ll never be able to have full control of your employees but you can always give them a way to make their voices heard.
4. Denial-of-Service:
Denial-of-service (DoS) attacks boil down to malicious attackers directing very high amounts of traffic and server requests at your business’s website – grinding its functions to a halt in the process. Cyber-protection firm reports that the majority of DoS attacks are small-threshold meaning they’re meant specifically to disturb small business activity.
Boosting server capacity and at-hand computing power can help minimize the effects of DoS attacks but the only way to avoid them outright is by fully investing in digital services that stop them in their way.
5. SQL Injection:
Kingfisher Technologies reports that 26 percent of all small businesses have gone through from a SQL injection attack in the 2019, yet it’s likely the less talked-about threat on this list. SQL injection is a bit more sophisticated than some of the other entries here but it essentially means putting code from the database-focused language SQL into a site and manipulating data retrieval in the process.
Older languages such as PHP are particularly susceptible to SQL injection attacks as are sites and applications that don’t receive structured updates. Preventing SQL injection is something you’ll want to leave to the experts but maintaining things as up-to-date as possible never hurts.
Clarity is proud to have been providing Security Services to North America for many years. With the addition of our Dotman Tech division and an extensive team of developers, we will continue to surpass expectations.
Call Clarity at 800-354-4160 today or email us at [email protected]. We are partnered internationally around the globe and we are open seven days a week 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM EST/EDT. http://45.33.92.219 and https://dotmantech.com.
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