The Five Most Critical Cybersecurity Threats in 2021
The world is changing, both in the physical and digital sense. New threats emerge daily that target business data, privacy, and safety. Data breaches have been occurring more frequently, and it seems like no company is immune to this problem. In the first half of 2021, there were 1,767 publicly disclosed breaches that compromised 18.8 billion records.
Cybercriminals are relying on increasingly sophisticated methods to steal sensitive data and commit fraud. They are constantly finding new ways to get around even the most stringent security measures. That is why it’s important for business organizations to keep up to date with the latest threats. This article will explore the five most critical cybersecurity threats on the rise in 2021, along with measures businesses can take to protect themselves.
1. Vulnerabilities in the Cloud
The pandemic led to many companies moving to the cloud to allow employees to work remotely. During the period, all industries saw a 50% rise in cloud use. Unfortunately, cyberattacks also increased by an exponential rate. In fact, hackers made 7.5 million external attacks on cloud accounts in quarter two of 2020.
Like any new tech trend, cybercriminals are targeting companies on the cloud and finding ways to exploit security vulnerabilities. Firms that do not have a solid cloud security plan will be plagued by data breaches, misconfigurations, unsecured APIs, account hijacking, hostile insider threats, and DDoS assaults.
Cloud service providers will oftentimes have clear boundaries as to what their security covers. It’s the responsibility of the business to ensure everything else is secure. Businesses should understand exactly what falls within their realm of security and implement measures to safeguard their data.
2. Ransomware
Ransomware is not a new threat, as it has been at the top of several security threat lists for the past few years. However, it remains an important topic when it comes to discussions regarding cyber threats. In the first half of 2021, 121 ransomware attacks were recorded, representing an increase of 64%. Ransomware is a malicious program that blocks access to company data. The attacker demands a ransom from the victim, promising to restore data access if paid.
The ransom fees are hefty. In 2021, the average ransomware payout rose by 82% to $570,000. Also, paying the fees does not always lead to organizations getting their data back. According to 2021 research, 46% of companies were able to retrieve their data after paying ransoms fees, but the majority of it was corrupted.
Brenntag’s North American division lost about 150 gigabytes of business data in May 2021, when the DarkSide ransomware gang infected the firm’s computers. The hackers allegedly wanted a $7.5 million ransom. The firm was able to bargain down to $4.4 million, which it paid DarkSide on May 14th to prevent the stolen data from being released.
In order for ransomware to take hold of a system, it needs to find a way into the network first. The best way to prevent ransomware is by ensuring network security is tight. This includes email filters, firewalls, and updated software and operating systems.
However, in the case something slips through, employees should be well aware of what to watch out for. Phishing emails are a common medium of transport for ransomware software, so companies should educate their workers on what to look for and avoid.
3. Third-party and Open-Source Software
The top 30 eCommerce merchants in the United States each have 1,131 third-party resources linked to them, and 23% of those assets have at least one serious vulnerability. If one of the apps in this ecosystem is hacked, hackers get access to other domains. On average, a breach committed by a third party costs $4.29 million.
Open-source software is a threat because it’s often community-built and managed. For example, most machine learning applications are built with open-source code and data. In the event that a hacker targets and injects instructions into a machine learning model, the system becomes susceptible to attacks.
At the end of the day, there are security flaws in both open source and private software. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the business to perform due diligence, locate the best products for their needs, and maintain their systems to be up-to-date and secure.
4. Social Engineering
In 2020, almost a third of breaches included social engineering, 90% of which was phishing. Social engineering assaults include phishing emails, scareware, and other tactics that influence human psychology to achieve particular objectives. According to Cisco, spear-phishing assaults account for 95% of network breaches.
The most effective phishing attacks combine technical skills, like spoofing an email to look legitimate, with research in identifying workers and their responsibilities. Wipro, an India-based technology company, was the target of a phishing attempt that may have led to attacks on its corporate clients. For Wipro’s network access, the compromised credentials of the employee who opened a malicious link were obtained via phishing. Researchers believe the hackers may have exploited this initial access to steal administrator credentials.
As stated above, email filters and firewalls can keep out the majority of email phishing attacks. However, businesses should be prepared for the small percentage that actually gets through to the inbox. Workers should be aware of what to look for in a phishing email, how to confirm where it came from, and who it should be reported to.
5. Brute Force Attacks
Brute-force hacking attempts are also returning. A brute force assault is like trying every key on your key ring until you locate the correct one. In 2017, brute force assaults accounted for 5% of verified data breaches.
Simple brute force assaults work well. Attackers let a machine perform the effort of testing various username and password combinations until one works.
The greatest defense is to stop a brute force attack while it’s happening and before it has network access. Once hackers have network access, dealing with them becomes more challenging. Networks should always alert personnel to potential brute forces by tracking failed credentials and odd IP address locations.
How Businesses Can Protect Themselves
Cybersecurity is a constant and ever-evolving issue. Cyber-attacks are getting trickier to spot, and these attacks can lead to data breaches, downtime and lost profits. Furthermore, gaining back consumer confidence after data breaches can be difficult. Data breaches have the potential to do significant damage to a company’s reputation, and a company may never fully recover.
The best thing an organization can do to prevent cyber-attacks is to take charge and put protective measures in place before an attack ever happens. An IT security assessment is a critical step in enhancing data security. This evaluation examines the organization’s network environment for vulnerabilities and risk areas. Outsource IT can help with that. Our IT security experts are up to date on the latest cyber threats and measures needed to mitigate them. To learn more, contact an Outsource IT account manager today.
