https://www.xperience-group.com/news-item/the-top-cyber-threats-facing-businesses-today/
The number of Cyber Security attacks has been steadily increasing over the past few years. Attacks have been affecting both billion-dollar companies and smaller businesses. Reports state that 1 in 5 cyber-attack victims in 2021 were a small to medium sized business with an average cost of losses of $21,659. In the latter stages of 2022, there was a sharp spike in the number of attacks with a 28% increase. This led to over 15 million data records being exposed. The threat of Cyber-attacks is a problem that needs to be monitored constantly. Hackers are developing new threats and methods all the time. Latest predictions state that cybercrime is forecasted to cost the world $10.5 trillion by 2025. With this in mind, it is important to prepare your organisation as much as you can to limit the threat.
Phishing attacks are very common in the Cyber world as they are highly effective. The number of Phishing attacks is on the rise with latest figures showing a 61% increase in the second half of the year in 2022. As well as increasing in rate, the attacks are becoming more sophisticated. This has led to attacks spreading beyond emails to text messages and other forms of communication.
This is a similar threat to phishing but more damaging to a business. This hacking method involves sending malicious content in the middle of existing email chains or breaking into trusted email accounts. Consequently, the victim typically doesn’t think twice about installing a virus or sharing important data.
The Internet of Things opens up more avenues for hackers to attack due to the vast amount of devices that can be part of the network. The amount of data stored and transferred is substantial. Consequently, misuse of the network by your team can be catastrophic to your security set up. In order to protect against this, make sure to use strong passwords on devices and prioritise the security of your Cloud Security.
In today’s world you are a part of the minority if you are not using the Cloud in some way for your business. So much data is stored in the Cloud by businesses making Cloud Security a top priority.
AI’s presence in businesses is ever growing, with functions such as chat bots, analytics, and fraud detection all becoming more prevalent. This growth unfortunately opens up another avenue for Hackers to target. Cyber criminals have started to use AI attacks on businesses such as automated phishing attacks and AI powered Malware. In response to this, organisations need to have measures in place to secure their AI systems. Such measures include regularly testing AI for vulnerabilities.
Malware is another security threat that comes in the form of viruses, worms and ransomware. This is often sent via phishing emails to try and steal or destroy an organisations data. Other threats Malware brings are the hacking of servers, leaking data records or encrypting files. Malware attacks can completely ruin systems leaving them inoperable. They are also currently on the rise sitting at 10.4 million a year. Their highest level since 2018.
Unlike conversation hijacking where hackers pretend to be a member of staff sending links in previous conversations, man in the middle attacks involve criminals tactically and silently positioning themselves in a normal conversation between users and applications. The hacker will exploit this to gain data such as log in details, social security numbers, bank information and so on. Due to the previous conversation being genuine, it can be easily mistaken for the actual contact. Compromising such data can be catastrophic to a business and as a result using encrypted channels for all of your organisation’s messaging is important.
With Cyber-attacks on the rise, along with the forecasted amount of money it is set to cost businesses, it is important to be aware of the upcoming threats to your business. By being aware of what threats look likely to hit organisations you can be one step ahead. Allowing you time to have protection in place to help prevent yourself from becoming compromised. Having measures in place across your organisation such as backing up data, securing your devices and network, encrypting information, Multi Factor authentication, Cyber policies and staff training you can put your workplace in the best possible place to defend against hackers.
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