The flurry of cyber-attacks on businesses of all sizes in 2018 served as a wakeup call for many organizations. They finally realized that hackers and cybercriminals weren’t just targeting the average Joe – various companies could fall prey to these attacks as well.
However, as with all things tech-related, 2019 will bring in new kinds of threats to these businesses. To get a better understanding of this new landscape, let’s take a look at what the main hazards are.
IoT Device Dangers
If you are like most modern businesses, then you would always be looking for ways to run your company more smoothly. The easiest way to do this, of course, is to include more digital devices to the total infrastructure. What most people don’t take into consideration, though, is that each of these devices poses a threat.
If someone is able to hack into just one connected device, they will have a much easier time accessing the system as a whole. One of the easiest ways to prevent such attacks is for companies to stay on top of security maintenance and updates. By plugging up the holes as soon as they appear, you will make it a lot harder for someone to hack in.
Cryptojacking
For the longest time, smaller businesses felt that they were safe from the majority of cybersecurity threats. After all, they didn’t have the kind of information (or money) that hackers were typically interested in. This, however, has changed with the increase in cryptojacking.
As you may know, mining from cryptocurrency requires computers, digital resources, and appropriate applications. This makes it difficult for just one miner to make much headway. To mine more cryptocurrency, hackers have beginning accessing business computers. It is typically managed with the help of malware that has many similarities to ransomware.
For the most part, avoiding this type of risk involves being careful about the links that employees click on. Therefore, a strong security software suite should function well. However, for added protection, you may want to consider anti-cryptomining extensions on all of your web browsers.
XSS Attacks
Another issue that businesses need to wise up to is cross-scripting attacks. These types of attacks allow shady third-party individuals to utilize your website to drop unverified code in your customer’s browser. This, in turn, makes it simpler for them to steal the cookie details associated with the authentication process.
So, what can you do to prevent this type of risk? Well, a bug bounty program can actually be rather useful, especially in the developmental stage. These programs will not only be able to seek out cross-scripting attacks, but they may be able to find out other flaws as well.
Your Employees
At the end of the day, your employees will continue to be one of your biggest cybersecurity concerns. From plugging in unverified devices to using overly simplistic passwords, workers can often be a much bigger security nightmare than one might imagine. This is why you should always run background information on the people you wish to hire.
Of course, you do need to take further steps to resolve this issue. To start with, all your workers need to be trained to spot and prevent the top cybersecurity threats to your system. It is also important to equip them with the latest malware prevention solutions as well. All of this will go a long way in allowing you to secure your system better.
Now that you are aware of the weak points in your security system, the next step is to address each of them. This is the only way to ensure that your business is completely secure.
