For businesses worldwide, cybersecurity is an increasingly alarming issue. It leads to the reputational as well as the financial cost of data breaches, which creates a significant headache for the companies that are unprepared to deal with such a fix.
Savita Wadhwa, who works with TopAssignmentExperts and provides the statistics homework help asserts that with time, the technology has helped the organizations optimize their operations. This has been made possible by way of a variety of innovative means and measures. However, on the flip side, there has been a noted subsequent rise in the number of cybersecurity threats which the companies are exposed to today.
So, what are these challenges of the cybersecurity? Here, we have come up with a list of 10 of the primary cybersecurity problems which the organizations are exposed to. Let us take a look at them, one by one.
Ransomware
As per the recently put together SEO Powersuite review, ransom ware, which is a form of malware, will continue to be a problem to the businesses for the years to come. So, how is this a cybersecurity threat to the companies? It has been seen that Ransomware actually prevents the users from being able to access the vital information or data on their networks until a said payment is made. Now, here what the cyber criminals do is that they don’t really free up the devices even if the ransom (stated payment) is made. They will try to extort more and more money out of the users and try to dupe them.
Hacktivism
Do you think all the cybercriminals are profit-oriented? If yes, then you are entirely wrong. Over the past five years, there has been a significant rise in hacktivism. So, what is hacktivism? Hacktivism means that several cybercriminals are repeatedly attempting to break into your computer system for the social or the politically charged reasons.
Usually, these attacks do more damage than the traditional threats because hacktivists do this to make a statement and scare the government. So, whenever there is a hacktivist attack, the effort is usually very publicly damaging for the reputation of the organization. Further, there are significant safety concerns seen if the hacktivists trespass the safety mechanisms or publish the documents which may put the national security at more substantial risk.
The Internet of Things (IoT)
As per McAfee, there will be more than 1.8 billion connected devices in the hands of the consumer by the end of 2019. Moreover, hacking into the systems will only get more and more prevalent over the years to come, given that hacktivism and ransomware are said to be the primary concerns.
In addition to this, there is a significant privacy threat as the smart devices consist of a considerable amount of sensitive information which only the cybercriminals have access to. If McAfee is to be believed, some of the products that have been sold this year already have some backdoors installed which the cybercriminals can leverage.
Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks
I am confident that a lot of you must have known, experienced or heard about the DDoS attacks. In the past couple of years, the DDoS attacks have created a lot of news. They have crippled some big names in the market, including the news broadcasting giant BBC. Others who were exposed to the DDoS attacks was Donald Trump's election campaign website as well as the Dyn, which is a cloud-based internet performance management company.
If the experts at the PaperDoers, are to be believed, the impact and the instances of the DDoS attacks are only going to increase in number in the coming years. This rise in the number of the breaches will definitely challenge the defence of the organization irrespective of its size.
Drone jacking
Today the consumers, as well as the organizations, are making use of the drones in several exciting and new ways. As a result of this, cybercriminals tend to take advantage of this growing popularity by hacking into technology.
As per the McAfee reports, the experts have already concluded how easy it is for the criminals to take over the toy drone, get it to land on the rooftop of a business or a home and thereby hack into the local network.
Social engineering
As suggested by Sonia, working with TrumpLearning, the preventive and the technical measures of the cybersecurity are getting more sophisticated with time. However, this doesn’t bother the criminals, and they are now moving to social engineering as an effort to bypass into the business systems. They do this via Social engineering, which involves deceiving or manipulating the primary individuals into giving out essential financial information or data by way of phishing techniques. Over the years, there is a noted massive rise in the phishing attacks.
Insider threats
Businesses are not just exposed to the external threats. They face a significant degree of internal threats too. More than half of the data breaches in the business houses are seen to be because of the prevalent insider threats. Amidst this 2/3 were the people with an ill intent whereas the remaining accounted to the incidents arising because of the 'inadvertent actors'. Inadvertent actors basically refer to the innocent individuals who happen to accidentally give the attackers access to relevant information or sometimes fail to keep up with the security measures.
Machine learning
Shayan offering online assignment help with TFTH states that the machine learning algorithms help the businesses to perform the complex data analysis task on a massive quantum of data at high speed with only minimal manual input. This is a great technology which is used to detect any instances of fraud, automate the suggestions for the consumer products, and predict the reach and success of the business campaign. Unfortunately, if McAfee is to be believed, this machine learning will also be leveraged to commit crimes which will lead to criminals identifying all the good value targets among the big data sets.
Mobile malware
Today people mostly prefer using mobile devices to perform everyday business tasks. As a result of this, in the technology rises, it is quite possible that the cybercriminals will try and exploit the weaknesses of the user.
As per the reports of the Kaspersky Lab, the malware attacks have almost tripled in the last couple of years. Further, there has been a rise in the instances of both mobile ransomware and mobile banking Trojans in the past one year.
Fake ads and feedback
Today, customers are bombarded with online advertisements. This rise in fake advertisements, as well as the increase in the phishing attacks, has eroded the trust in the internet-based marketing.
Further, the trend of purchased likes, reviews and comments is only worsening this problem. This leaves the customers skeptical of the truthfulness of the online advertising methods. Sheetal, working with a reputed paper writing help provider, offering the college paper writing service states that this trend of fake ads and feedbacks may have a negative impact even on the businesses which are not involved in such practices as their legitimate campaigns are found to suffer in this world of nefarious marketing tactics.
So, in this list we have seen the top ten challenges of the cybersecurity which the businesses are experiencing now and sadly will continue to experience in the near future too. However, with the right use of system and software, this can surely be tackled.
Online Threat Alerts Security Tips
Pay the safest way
Credit cards are the safest way to pay for online purchases because you can dispute the charges if you never get the goods or services or if the offer was misrepresented. Federal law limits your liability to $50 if someone makes unauthorized charges to your account, and most credit card issuers will remove them completely if you report the problem promptly.
Guard your personal information
In any transaction you conduct, make sure to check with your state or local consumer protection agency and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to see if the seller, charity, company, or organization is credible. Be especially wary if the entity is unfamiliar to you. Always call the number found on a website’s contact information to make sure the number legitimately belongs to the entity you are dealing with.
Be careful of the information you share
Never give out your codes, passwords or personal information, unless you are sure of who you're dealing with
Know who you’re dealing with
Crooks pretending to be from companies you do business with may call or send an email, claiming they need to verify your personal information. Don’t provide your credit card or bank account number unless you are actually paying for something and know who you are sending payment to. Your social security number should not be necessary unless you are applying for credit. Be especially suspicious if someone claiming to be from a company with whom you have an account asks for information that the business already has.
Check your accounts
Regularly check your account transactions and report any suspicious or unauthorised transactions.
Don’t believe promises of easy money
If someone claims that you can earn money with little or no work, get a loan or credit card even if you have bad credit, or make money on an investment with little or no risk, it’s probably a scam. Oftentimes, offers that seem too good to be true, actually are too good to be true.
Do not open email from people you don’t know
If you are unsure whether an email you received is legitimate, try contacting the sender directly via other means. Do not click on any links in an email unless you are sure it is safe.
Think before you click
If an email or text message looks suspicious, don’t open any attachments or click on the links.
Verify urgent requests or unsolicited emails, messages or phone calls before you respond
If you receive a message or a phone call asking for immediate action and don't know the sender, it could be a phishing message.
Be careful with links and new website addresses
Malicious website addresses may appear almost identical to legitimate sites. Scammers often use a slight variation in spelling or logo to lure you. Malicious links can also come from friends whose email has unknowingly been compromised, so be careful.
Secure your personal information
Before providing any personal information, such as your date of birth, Social Security number, account numbers, and passwords, be sure the website is secure.
Stay informed on the latest cyber threats
Keep yourself up to date on current scams by visiting this website daily.
Use Strong Passwords
Strong passwords are critical to online security.
Keep your software up to date and maintain preventative software programs
Keep all of your software applications up to date on your computers and mobile devices. Install software that provides antivirus, firewall, and email filter services.
Update the operating systems on your electronic devices
Make sure your operating systems (OSs) and applications are up to date on all of your electronic devices. Older and unpatched versions of OSs and software are the target of many hacks. Read the CISA security tip on Understanding Patches and Software Updates for more information.
What if You Got Scammed?
Stop Contact With The Scammer
Hang up the phone. Do not reply to emails, messages, or letters that the scammer sends. Do not make any more payments to the scammer. Beware of additional scammers who may contact you claiming they can help you get your lost money back.
Secure Your Finances
- Report potentially compromised bank account, credit or debit card information to your financial institution(s) immediately. They may be able to cancel or reverse fraudulent transactions.
- Notify the three major credit bureaus. They can add a fraud alert to warn potential credit grantors that you may be a victim of identity theft. You may also want to consider placing a free security freeze on your credit report. Doing so prevents lenders and others from accessing your credit report entirely, which will prevent them from extending credit:
- Equifax
- Experian
- TransUnion
Check Your Computer
If your computer was accessed or otherwise affected by a scam, check to make sure that your anti-virus is up-to-date and running and that your system is free of malware and keylogging software. You may also need to seek the help of a computer repair company. Consider utilizing the Better Business Bureau’s website to find a reputable company.
Change Your Account Passwords
Update your bank, credit card, social media, and email account passwords to try to limit further unauthorized access. Make sure to choose strong passwords when changing account passwords.
Report The Scam
Reporting helps protect others. While agencies can’t always track down perpetrators of crimes against scammers, they can utilize the information gathered to record patterns of abuse which may lead to action being taken against a company or industry.
Report your issue to the following agencies based on the nature of the scam:
- Local Law Enforcement: Consumers are encouraged to report scams to their local police department or sheriff’s office, especially if you lost money or property or had your identity compromised.
- Federal Trade Commission: Contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or use the Online Complaint Assistant to report various types of fraud, including counterfeit checks, lottery or sweepstakes scams, and more.
- Identitytheft.gov: If someone is using your personal information, like your Social Security, credit card, or bank account number, to open new accounts, make purchases, or get a tax refund, report it at www.identitytheft.gov. This federal government site will also help you create your Identity Theft Report and a personal recovery plan based on your situation. Questions can be directed to 877-ID THEFT.
How To Recognize a Phishing Scam
Scammers use email or text messages to try to steal your passwords, account numbers, or Social Security numbers. If they get that information, they could get access to your email, bank, or other accounts. Or they could sell your information to other scammers. Scammers launch thousands of phishing attacks like these every day — and they’re often successful.
Scammers often update their tactics to keep up with the latest news or trends, but here are some common tactics used in phishing emails or text messages:
Phishing emails and text messages often tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. You might get an unexpected email or text message that looks like it’s from a company you know or trust, like a bank or a credit card or utility company. Or maybe it’s from an online payment website or app. The message could be from a scammer, who might
- say they’ve noticed some suspicious activity or log-in attempts — they haven’t
- claim there’s a problem with your account or your payment information — there isn’t
- say you need to confirm some personal or financial information — you don’t
- include an invoice you don’t recognize — it’s fake
- want you to click on a link to make a payment — but the link has malware
- say you’re eligible to register for a government refund — it’s a scam
- offer a coupon for free stuff — it’s not real
About Online Threat Alerts (OTA)
Online Threat Alerts or OTA is an anti-cybercrime community that started in 2012. OTA alerts the public to cyber crimes and other web threats.
By alerting the public, we have prevented a lot of online users from getting scammed or becoming victims of cybercrimes.
With the ever-increasing number of people going online, it important to have a community like OTA that continuously alerts or protects those same people from cyber-criminals, scammers and hackers, who are every day finding new ways of carrying out their malicious activities.
Online users can help by reporting suspicious or malicious messages or websites to OTA. And, if they want to determine if a message or website is a threat or scam, they can use OTA's search engine to search for the website or parts of the message for information.
Help maintain Online Threat Alerts (OTA).