Cyber security threats are plaguing the online community right now, and the dangers are only growing. As technology becomes more developed, the presences of online threats are only increasing.
Healthcare IT News discusses the different possibilities,
“Cybercriminals, in fact, are using Powershell, or .LNK, files to run malicious code and serve up ransomware including Locky, while the WORM.RETADUP.A code has been used to target hospitals in Israel lately and campaigns based on web browsers, Windows updates and a 3D creation tool were spotted in the wild.”
Nation-State Cyber Threats
When a government targets another country’s government, it usually ends up in complete disaster. Motives also come in a large variety:
- Eroding rivals’ economic and military competitiveness
- Influencing the political and diplomatic landscape
- Obtaining intelligence to advance weapons proliferation programs
- Cyber warfare to create an advantage in armed conflict
Whatever the reason behind the attack is, the outcome is usually loss on a massive scale. Those affected by the attack are not just government officials either – citizens are at just as much risk.
Social Engineering
You cannot risk carelessness online; it is simply not an option. The second you give away even the smallest tidbit of sensitive information could be the second you submit yourself to a cyber-attack.
Social engineering is an art form that many criminals manipulate. The possibilities in this category are endless, which is why you can never be too careful. So far in 2017, social engineering based attacks are becoming increasingly frequent.
Ransomware
This one is obvious . . . right? With WannaCry and Petya (and NotPetya), we can never be on too high of alert. The sad fact is that the colossal online threats we’ve been dealing with recently are only likely to progress and mature as time goes on.
We need to strengthen our security wards, start training everyone we can, and prepare ourselves for a full-on cyber war (eventually).