Cybersecurity today is a part of the global agenda! It’s hard to think of technology and transformation without thinking about cybersecurity! When digital transformation is happening at an accelerated speed, the threat landscape is also increasing! Right from public sectors to hospitals and financial institutions, nowadays no one is safe from becoming a victim of a cyber attack!
No matter whether you are an end-user or an enterprise holder, understanding the importance of cyber security is a mandate!
This blog will help you gain a broader perspective of cyber security, its types, various kinds of threats, and the mitigation strategies that you can adopt to protect your digital landscape!
First of all, what is cybersecurity?
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Cybersecurity involves a set or more than a set of procedures and tools to protect the information that is generated and processed through computers, servers, mobile devices, networks, and electronic systems.
The Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) defines cyber security as “a layer of protection for information archives”.
In a world where most of your activities are performed through networks and electronic devices, ensuring the security of operations becomes a perennial need!
Types of Cybersecurity
Cyber Security can be precisely classified as Hardware Security, Software Security, and Network Security. If we delineate, it can branch further to Cloud Security, Endpoint Security, Application Security, IoT Security, and so on. To begin with let’s get a brief picture of Hardware Security, Software Security, and Network Security.
Hardware Security
Hardware security refers to the protection of physical systems from harm. It usually pertains to a device used to scan a system or monitor network traffic. Some common examples of hardware security involve hardware firewalls, proxy servers, and cryptographic keys. Hardware security is very crucial in a way that it allows you to encrypt, decrypt, and protect your systems with appropriate authentications. Ensuring the security of your hardware is as pivotal as ensuring the security of your software because it adds an additional layer of security to your mission-critical systems.
Software Security
Software Security involves protecting applications and software from external threats such as viruses and malicious attacks. One of the commonly adopted methods to ensure the security of software systems is through Anti-virus. It provides automatic updates and helps you find new viruses that harm the security of your software. Software security also involves protecting software applications with proper authentication and management.
Network Security
Network security clears the vulnerability, ensures the security of your network, and prevents your information from being modified or stolen. It involves securing on-prem networks, wide area networks (WAN), and the internet. Some of the common methods leveraged to secure and prevent the networks from threats are network segmentation, secure transport, secure access, and content inspection. Network security can also be ensured by firewalls.
The common types of cyber attacks that you need to be aware of!
Malware
Malware is a type of malicious software that is designed to damage and destroy computers, computer systems, and networks. There are around seven different types of malwares. Depending upon the type and the goal, malware may present itself differently to the user or endpoint. Malware like ransomware is of major concern today. Around three in five enterprises have experienced a ransomware attack during the past two years. A ransomware virus will get hold of your confidential information and will demand for a financial payout for the data to be released.
Phishing
Phishing is a cyber attack that is aimed at obtaining confidential information from the users, (usually banking information or the credentials of applications that perform payments and other transactions). The attacker in a phishing attack will masquerade as a trusted entity and will trick the user to open an email, instant message, or text message. Once the user opens the email or the text message, the attacker would then dupe the user, and make them click a malicious link which will eventually lead to the installation of malicious software.
Man in the middle attack(MITM)
In this kind of cyber attack, cyber criminals intercept two entities (it can be between a user and an application) in order to filter and steal the data. The threat actor will gain access to the user’s web browser and the data it sends and receives during transactions. Since it involves interception, this kind of attack is also called an eavesdropping attack.
Watering hole attack
A watering hole attack is a security attack in which the attacker compromises a specific group of end users by placing a threat factor on the websites that the members of the group are more likely to visit. Instead of persuading or tricking the users to open a malicious link, in a watering hole attack, the threat is directly placed on a website that will be visited by the user.
Social engineering attack
Social engineering attack heavily depends on human interactions. It often involves manipulating people into breaking the security procedures to gain access to unauthorized access to the systems, networks, or physical locations for the sake of financial gain. This kind of attack is most leveraged by bad actors because oftentimes it is easy to manipulate people instead of finding a network or a software vulnerability.
Denial of service attack(DDOS)
A denial of service attack, fills systems, servers, or networks with traffic that will in turn exhaust resources and bandwidth. This kind of attack will make the system incapable of fulfilling legitimate requests. Though this kind of attack will not typically result in theft or loss of significant information or other assets, this will cost the victim a good deal of time and when it comes to organizations it will hugely affect productivity.
Cybersecurity best practices to stay protected against modern day threats!
Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
When the threat landscape is expanding and crossing all the boundaries, having just one authentication may expose you to various security issues. Therefore, enabling multi-factor authentication is indispensable for your organization. In MFA instead of just having one password, you can perform more than two authentications through SMS messages, calls, email alerts, and biometrics.
Enforce a ‘Zero Trust’ Security Model
When it comes to your enterprise security always go by the adage, “Never Trust, Always Verify!”. Be it the users outside your organizational network or within your network, it is always good to authorize, authenticate, and validate, your users, before granting any access to your enterprise applications and data. Following a zero-trust security model will ensure an enhanced security posture for your enterprise and keep all malicious attacks at bay.
Keep your systems updated
Be it your personal mobile phones, laptops, iPad, or the systems and devices that you use in your organization, keeping them up to date is a must! Not just the devices, you should also update your software with the latest patches as it helps you guard against potential security threats with improved features and enhancements.
Conduct regular health checks
Performing a constructive analysis of your current security framework will provide you with all the critical data you need to protect your enterprise. Health checks like penetration testing, business impact assessment, and risk assessments will help you locate the areas of concern so that you can quickly dive in and fix the issues.
Create Data Backups
Data backups are crucial to ensure you are protected against cyber attacks! Performing regular data backups will ensure that whatever happens your enterprise will not be at a total loss even when exposed to a security threat. Hence backing up your data in a safe space can be a lifesaver for your enterprise. No wonder data backups will also help you when there is a hardware failure or during natural disasters.
Educate your end users
If you want to simplify your cyber security efforts and make them more organized, user awareness training is a must! Helping your workforce understand the nooks and crannies of security best practices will help them stay avert from potential threats such as phishing and social engineering attacks!
Closing thoughts!
When you are moving forward in technology and innovation, make sure that nothing stops you from achieving efficiency! Our cybersecurity assessment will lay a strong foundation in helping you propose a fool-proof security strategy for your enterprise!
