Cyber criminals aren’t your neighborhood thieves and petty burglars. They’re smart. They’re sophisticated. And they only get better and better at what they do. They’re after your data, your sensitive business and personal information, and even your client information. It’s imperative to protect yourself, your business, and your clients from this extremely serious threat. The first step is raising awareness for yourself and your employees. You may also want to conduct a security assessment to get an idea where you stand.
5 Types of Cyber Attacks on Businesses
While there are many different ways a bad actor could exploit your system, there are a few that have proven most common. However, there are a few more prevalent methods you need to be aware of to keep your business network protected.
1) Phishing Attacks
Hackers attempt to steal your login credentials with phishing attacks more often than any other. What this basically means is that what you see may not really be what you get. An attacker will build a website that looks identical to the one that you use to gain access to a popular site and from there capture your credentials.
Common phishing schemes involve a clickable link in an email, though they can happen on social media and many other places online as well. It’s vital for you and all your team to be able to identify these types of phishing attacks wherever they may occur. Periodic training is advisable.
2) Internal Attacks
When you think of a hacker you may imagine an outside source attempting to breach the walls of your kingdom. However, cyber attacks against businesses often originate from within. An internal user will exploit authorizations and access levels to compromise computers and sensitive information. This is exceptionally dangerous and hard to catch because these individuals have already been granted a level of trust within the networks.
3) Injection Attacks
These attackers focus on gaining access to business websites and databases through bugs in the websites scripted language. SQL injection vulnerabilities are one of the most common flaws that an attacker will use. I keep all your browsers, software, and operating systems up to date with the latest patches and updates.
4) Social Hacking
Social engineering or “social hacking” is when an attacker is disguised as someone else. They may walk into your offices as an IT professional looking to load an update or even just a prospective client. By asking questions and looking for gullible, unknowing targets, they piece together enough information to gain access to your network.It is recommended to conduct periodic training for all your employees to prevent this type of attack.
5) Security Misconfiguration
Attackers use popular automated software that can scan for un- managed it services running security misconfiguration flaws. Business who run outdated software, run applications as a wrong user, unnecessary services, and various other load outs are at a risk when an attacker runs a scan. These all represent easy access points of entry into your network.
Security is Essential
Your company’s IT infrastructure is worth your investment and proper management because cyber attacks on businesses is a very real threat. Attackers are highly intelligent and their attacks are becoming ever more sophisticated. Securing your business network has never been more important.
Enstep is your Houston area leader in business IT and security. Contact Us to learn more about securing your business network or for a free security assessment.
