As technology advances, so do dangerous cybersecurity threats. Increased digital dependency and sophisticated attack methods are two primary reasons why businesses are experiencing a higher rate of cybercrime. The only way for businesses to protect themselves is to invest in robust cybersecurity measures and implement cybersecurity best practices as a part of their company’s operating protocols. Falling victim to a cyberattack can leave your business in financial ruin and irreparably damage your reputation. Cybersecurity threats are on the rise. Learn how to protect your business with our actionable guide.
Common Cybersecurity Threats
You need to be aware of several very common cybersecurity threats. Some damage systems and steal data, while others lock users out of their files and attempt to deceive unsuspecting employees.
Phishing Attacks
A phishing attack is a type of cybercrime in which the attacker attempts to trick individuals within an organization into revealing sensitive information, such as passwords, personal data, or financial information. Phishing attacks are often carried out through fraudulent emails, messages, or websites. Legitimate companies or people are impersonated to trick the victim into taking the desired action.
How Do Phishing Attacks Work?
Here’s how a phishing attack typically unfolds:
- Baiting the victim – Attackers send fraudulent emails, messages, or websites that appear to be from trusted sources such as business supervisors or financial institutions.
- Tricking the target – The message, no matter the form, urges the recipient to take urgent action, such as verifying a bank account.
- Attack is carried out – Once the victim takes the requested action, the damage is often done, and the attacker has the information they were after.
Once your business realizes a phishing attack has occurred, untold damage may already have been done.
Examples Of Phishing Emails and Messages
Let’s look at some examples of possible phishing emails and messages.
Fake Bank Alert Email
Subject: Urgent: Suspicious Activity Detected on Your Account
Message:
Dear Customer,
We have detected unusual activity on your account. For your security, we have temporarily suspended your account. Please verify your identity immediately by clicking the link below:
VerifyMyAccount
If you do not verify within 24 hours, your account may be permanently locked.
Regards,
Sample Bank, Security Team
CEO Impersonation Email
Subject: Urgent Payment Request
Message:
Hi [Employee’s Name],
I need you to immediately process a wire transfer of $10,000 to a new vendor. This is an urgent request, so please do this ASAP. I will send the details shortly.
Thanks,
[CEO’s Name]
(sent from a spoofed or slightly altered email address)
Fake Delivery Scam SMS
FedEx: Your package could not be delivered due to missing address details. Please confirm your address here: [Fake Link]
What Are the Consequences of Falling for Phishing Attacks
Falling for a phishing attack can have devastating consequences, including identity theft, breach of sensitive accounts, and financial loss. If your business recovers, it could take months or years.
Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that essentially locks victims out of their files or computer systems. Payment is demanded to restore access. To further up the ante, the cyber attacker often threatens to delete or leak sensitive information if the ransom is not paid.
How Does Ransomware Lock Business Data?
First, ransomware enters a business’s system through a phishing message, malicious link, or software vulnerability. Once it has entered the system, it can spread throughout the network. The preprogrammed ransomware automatically encrypts critical files, rendering them unusable. The cyberattacker then demands payment in exchange for releasing the hostage files or the system.
Even if your business pays the ransom, there is no guarantee that the information won’t be leaked or that you will regain access to locked systems and files. It is clear to see how crippling a ransomware attack can be.
High-profile Ransomware Incidents and Their Impact
Let’s examine three real-life examples of ransomware attacks and their effects.
1. Ticketmaster and LiveNation (2024)
- Incident: In May 2024, Ticketmaster and LiveNation failed to secure their customers’ personal and private information. 560 million Ticketmaster customers’ information was stolen by a persona named “ShinyHunters” and was put up on the dark web for sale for $500,000.
- Impact: There is a current class-action lawsuit against Ticketmaster and LiveNation.
- Incident: In December 2022 200 million Twitter users’ account information was published on BreachForums. This data was scraped by exploiting an API vulnerability.
- Impact: The data had been ransomed on the black market a few times by different hackers, but they were unsuccessful. In August 2023, Twitter’s former head of security went public and filed a 200-page complaint, stating “egregious deficiencies, negligence, willful ignorance, and threats to national security and democracy.”
- Incident: Colonial Pipeline, the largest fuel pipeline in the United States, was hit by a ransomware attack attributed to the DarkSide group. The company was forced to shut down its operations to contain the attack.
- Impact: The shutdown caused a significant fuel supply disruption on the East Coast, leading to panic buying, gas shortages, and price hikes. The company paid a $4.4 million ransom to regain access to its systems, although the FBI later recovered some of the ransom.
How Ransomware Spreads
Ransomware attacks typically rely on a previous cyberattack, most commonly a phishing attack. Once the victim falls for a phishing attack, the ransomware infects the system, and the ransomware attack can then be executed. Ransomware can spread very quickly across servers and devices.
Malware and Viruses
Malware, which is short for malicious software, is designed to compromise the functionality of a network or device. Types of malware include:
- Viruses – attach themselves to legitimate files, like bacteria spread when those files are shared
- Worms – self-replicating programs that spread across networks, often without any user interaction
- Trojans – disguise themselves as harmless software, but once installed, provide attackers access to the system
- Ransomware – locks or encrypts files, demanding payment to restore access
- Spyware – secretly monitors and collects user activity or sensitive data without their knowledge
- Adware – displays unwanted advertisements, often slowing down performance
- Rootkits – allow hackers to maintain privileged access to a system, often making their presence invisible to detection tools
How Does Malware Infiltrate Systems?
As with ransomware, other forms of malware infiltrate networks and systems through other cyberattacks, such as phishing attacks. Once inside, malware can carry out its intended purpose.
Insider Threats
Sometimes the threat is from within. Insider cybersecurity threats originate from within your business. It may be intentional or accidental. Insider threats can include actions such as data theft, sabotage, or even negligence.
Employees As Potential Security Risks
Due to their access to sensitive company data and systems, employees inherently pose security risks to businesses. As mentioned above, insider threats may be intentional or unintentional. Intentional threats include stealing proprietary information and sabotaging systems. Unintentional threats often arise from failing to follow security protocols, such as opening suspicious emails.
Examples of Insider Breaches and Their Consequences
Here are a few examples of insider threats and their consequences.
1. North Korea’s IT Worker Threat (2025)
- Incident: On January 23, 2025, the US Department of Justice indicted two North Korean nationals and three facilitators for remote worker fraud that enriched the North Korean regime. In the indictment, the US DOJ described a six-year scheme in which two US citizens and one Mexican national conspired with North Korean IT workers to work for at least 64 US companies remotely. Payments from ten companies generated at least $866,255 in revenue that was laundered through a bank account in China.
- Consequences: These operatives not only violated international sanctions but also the infiltration of North Korean IT workers into Western companies has not only bolstered the regime’s weapons programs but also introduced significant cybersecurity threats, prompted legal and policy responses, and raised ethical concerns regarding labour practices.
- Incident: While the 2013 Target breach was largely attributed to external hackers, an insider played a role by inadvertently allowing access to the network through a compromised vendor’s credentials.
- Consequences: The breach exposed personal and payment card information of over 40 million customers, resulting in approximately $162 million in expenses related to the breach and significant reputational damage for Target.
3. Capital One Data Breach (2019)
- Incident: A former employee of a third-party cloud provider exploited a vulnerability in Capital One’s cloud infrastructure to access data of over 100 million customers.
- Consequences: The breach exposed sensitive customer data, including credit scores, personal information, and financial history. Capital One faced hefty fines, legal fees, loss of customer trust, and a significant hit to its reputation.
Importance Of Access Controls and Monitoring
Properly implementing access controls and monitoring is crucial to minimizing the risk of unauthorized access to sensitive business data. Continuous monitoring can help detect unusual activity and prevent an intentional insider threat from being executed.
Data Breaches
Cyber attackers steal sensitive information through various tactics such as phishing attacks, malware, software vulnerabilities, or weak security protocols. Once inside, attackers can obtain the necessary credentials to extract confidential data and use it for malicious purposes.
The Financial and Legal Repercussions of Data Breaches
Data breaches are no joke. They can result in financial losses, loss of customer trust, and more. Companies may even face lawsuits from customers and those affected by the data breach.
Recent Notable Breaches and Lessons Learned
Here are two notable data breaches and the lessons learned from them.
- Incident: Hackers exploited a vulnerability in Equifax’s software to access the personal data of 147 million people, including Social Security numbers, birthdates, and addresses.
- Impact: The breach highlighted the importance of promptly applying security patches and maintaining up-to-date systems. It also emphasized the need for companies to encrypt sensitive data and implement strong monitoring systems to detect unusual activity.
- Incident: A massive breach affected all 3 billion Yahoo user accounts, compromising personal information, including email addresses, passwords, and security questions.
- Impact: Yahoo’s failure to disclose the breach for years showed the importance of transparency and timely notification to customers. Companies should prioritize proactive security measures and have an incident response plan in place to quickly address breaches.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are cyberattacks designed to disrupt traffic to a targeted server or network. Unlike a traditional DoS attack, which originates from a single source, a DDoS attack is launched from multiple sources.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are malicious attempts to disrupt the normal traffic of a targeted server, service, or network by overwhelming it with a flood of internet traffic. Unlike a traditional DoS attack, which originates from a single source, a DDoS attack is launched from multiple sources, often using a botnet of compromised devices like computers, routers, or IoT devices. The sheer volume of traffic exhausts the targeted system’s resources, causing it to slow down, crash, or become completely unavailable, which disrupts services and potentially causes significant financial and reputational damage.
Explanation of How DDoS Attacks Overwhelm Business Networks
DDoS attacks disrupt traffic by flooding targeted servers and networks with massive fraudulent traffic. The sheer volume of traffic causes the system to either slow down or crash, making it completely unusable to customers.
Impact On Website and Online Services
When websites and online services fail, customers lose trust and take their business elsewhere. DDoS attacks lead to financial losses and a loss of customer base. This can cause irreparable damage that businesses may be unable to recover from.
Common Targets of DDoS Attacks
E-commerce platforms and high-traffic websites are the most common targets of DDoS attacks. While businesses in any industry are vulnerable, financial, gaming, and governmental companies are the most susceptible. These attacks are designed to maximize damage to a company as quickly as possible.
How To Protect Your Business from Cyber Threats
There’s no doubt that cybersecurity threats are nothing to take lightly. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect your company from becoming a victim and minimize damages if you happen to become a victim.
Implement Strong Security Policies
Implementing strong security policies and holding employees accountable is vital to protecting your business.
Importance Of Cybersecurity Awareness Training for Employees
Education is the most important tool your team can have in their arsenal. When employees know what to look for, they will be less likely to fall for a cybersecurity attack. They will also be able to spot the signs much quicker and make a report. Provide regular training to keep your staff up to date on the latest cybersecurity threats.
Creating Clear Policies for Handling Data and Passwords
Passwords are the gateway to your business’s most important information. Create clear policies on how passwords and data are to be stored and shared. This includes regularly updating passwords and using multi-factor authentication to add an additional layer of protection.
Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security process that requires users to provide two or more verification forms before they can access a system or application. Typically, this involves something the user knows (such as a password), something the user has (like a smartphone or a hardware token), or something the user is (like biometric data, such as a fingerprint or face scan). MFA significantly enhances security by making it harder for unauthorized individuals to gain access, even if they have compromised one of the factors (e.g., the password).
Keep Software and Systems Updated
Updating software and systems is often overlooked because it seems like a minuscule task. Don’t do this! Maintain a regular schedule to ensure all systems are up to date. Apply security patches promptly between regular updates.
Invest In Strong Antivirus and Firewalls
A comprehensive antivirus and firewall are your network’s first defence in detecting suspicious programs, software, and websites. It’s well worth investing in robust antivirus and firewall software and running scans frequently. This will give you an added layer of defence and increase the chances that attacks are caught and stopped before they happen.
Regular Data Backups
Keeping only one set of data is a recipe for disaster. Always ensure you have a backup stored in a separate, secure location. This way, if your business falls victim to a ransomware attack or other cyberattack that involves data, you have a backup set that you can use to minimize impact and downtime.
Monitor Network Activity and Implement Security Audits
Monitoring network activity helps detect unusual or suspicious behaviour in real-time, allowing businesses to identify potential security threats and respond quickly to mitigate risks. Implementing regular security audits ensures that vulnerabilities are identified, security measures are tested, and compliance with security policies is maintained, providing ongoing protection against evolving threats.
Importance Of Real-Time Monitoring for Detecting Threats
Real-time monitoring is essential for quickly detecting and responding to potential cyber threats as they occur, minimizing the impact of security breaches. Organizations can identify unusual patterns that may indicate an attack by continuously analyzing network traffic, system behaviour, and user activity, such as malware infections or unauthorized access. Prompt detection allows businesses to take immediate action, reducing the likelihood of significant damage, data loss, or extended downtime.
Conducting Regular Security Audits to Identify Vulnerabilities
Conducting regular security audits helps businesses identify vulnerabilities in their systems, networks, and processes before attackers can exploit them. These audits assess compliance with security policies, identify software, hardware, and access controls weaknesses, and ensure that data protection measures are up to date. By proactively addressing vulnerabilities through audits, organizations can strengthen their security posture and reduce the risk of data breaches or cyberattacks
Limit Access to Sensitive Data
Only the people who need to access sensitive data should have the authority. Limiting access to sensitive data is a simple way to reduce the risk of internal breaches.
Implementing Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Consider implementing role-based access control (RBAC) to manage access. RBAC is a system that grants users access to only the information necessary for their job functions. Regularly review and update permissions as needed to ensure that employees have only the access they need, and no more.
Partner With Cybersecurity Experts
Cybersecurity is a big deal. Chances are, your company doesn’t have time to run the business efficiently and give cybersecurity the attention it deserves. Outsourcing IT security gives your company a leg up, as you can stay ahead of the latest cybersecurity threats and receive the fastest response times should your company become a target of a cyberattack. Understanding the most common cybersecurity threats is only one part of the equation. Following the tips above is a great first step in protecting your business, but to fully protect your company, you need the cybersecurity experts at Yobihouse in your corner. Just like nobody knows your business better than you, nobody knows how to protect it better than we do! Book a free consultation with Yobihouse today and reduce your risk of cybersecurity threats by outsourcing your IT security.
