The past two years have been a busy period for cybercriminals. With many employees shifting to a mandatory work-from-home environment due to the rising COVID-19 cases globally, new opportunities abound for nefarious hackers to test the vulnerabilities of many businesses’ cybersecurity systems.
While these hackers are constantly looking to upgrade their tactics to infiltrate the best security systems, they will not necessarily reinvent the wheel. After all, why fix something that is not broken?
Instead, they will draw on familiar techniques, such as malware and phishing, that are known to be highly effective in the past. As such, as an entrepreneur, it helps to understand the various attack vectors malicious hackers may attempt to gain access to your company’s data, so you can educate your employees on the common cybercrime tactics to look out for.
Let us share the top five cybercrime tactics that you need to be aware of.
1. Malware
Malware is a broad term used to encompass any harmful software, like viruses and ransomware, that wreaks havoc to a user’s computer with or without their knowledge. If you have ever received an alert from your antivirus software, chances are you have had a close call with malware.
Some malware can make themselves known through signs like degraded performance, unexplained intermittent and random crashes, or missing files and folders. Unfortunately, others can remain hidden by stealthily running in the background, allowing hackers to monitor your actions and keystrokes to steal confidential data.
Attackers will utilise different methods to infect your company’s computers with malware. However, this will often require a victim to install the malware into their computer unwittingly. One of the common malware examples includes sending an email with an enticing title to prompt users to click a suspicious link or download a malicious file.
2. Phishing
Hackers typically utilise email messages as their entry point to deliver malware to an unsuspecting user and nowhere is this more apparent than with the use of phishing tactics.
Generally, users are sceptical of clicking links or opening attachments from senders they do not know of. Hackers are aware of this fact, so they look to be more creative with their phishing tactics. They will often look to impersonate someone the victim trusts, such as an employer or colleague, to trick the victim into opening the malicious email.
As the email’s content will appear legitimate at first glance, and it may often have a sense of urgency to it, the victim will unknowingly click on the link or open an attachment.
If it is the former, the link will usually redirect the victim to a near-perfect replica of a legitimate site before prompting them to enter their login credentials to access a file, allowing the hackers to steal their credentials and use them to gain access to the company’s IT system. Conversely, if it is the latter option, the victim will inadvertently install malware on their computer.
3. DDoS attacks
Although the frequency of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks has declined recently, it does not mean that you can let your guard down as a few major attacks have continued to make the headlines last year, with the attack on Amazon Web Services arguably one of the most attention-grabbing news in 2020.
DDoS attacks involve flooding an online service with more traffic than it can handle – typically through the use of bots to overload the servers – making it impossible for the business owner or employees to access the tools they need to operate, whether it is a website or the company’s email server.
This can cause massive disruption to business continuity, as employees are shut off from the tools they need to resume daily operations. Not only does it take significant time and resources to get things back to normal, but the company’s reputation will also suffer because of this lapse in security.
4. SQL injection attacks
SQL, abbreviated from structured query language, is a programming language used to communicate with and manage databases. In fact, numerous servers that are used to store critical information for multiple businesses use SQL to manage the data in said databases.
This means those databases are vulnerable to SQL injection attacks, which exploits any known vulnerabilities to run malicious code to force the server to reveal information that it would not divulge under ordinary circumstances.
Such attacks are especially problematic if the targeted server stores sensitive customer information like credit card numbers, login credentials, and other personally identifiable information, which are lucrative targets for any hackers.
5. Credential stuffing
Credential stuffing is a common cybersecurity threat that has grown in popularity in recent years. This tactic involves testing countless email-password combinations on different sites, hoping that the login credentials that work on one site may also grant hackers access to another.
As more people opt to stay at home to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus during the pandemic, many have shifted to digital platforms to purchase their daily essentials, leading to a significant rise in digital fraud activities. And given how common it is for most people to reuse the same login credentials on multiple personal and work-related sites, it is understandable why cyber attackers are using credential stuffing to try and gain access to as many accounts as possible.
Conclusion
Cybercrimes are a lucrative business for nefarious hackers, who will not be deterred in their aim to steal valuable data for malicious purposes. As a business owner, you need to be aware of the common cybercrime tactics so that you can stay ahead of the hackers and protect your company’s data.
Common hacking techniques, such as malware and phishing, often require the victim to click on a link or download a file before the hackers can gain access to their computer systems. As such, you need to educate your employees on the importance of remaining alert, as human error is one of the leading causes of a security breach.
Additionally, it is advisable for you to consider signing up your employees for cybersecurity training so they have a firm understanding of what to do in the event of a cyber threat.
At Bridging Minds, we provide an extensive selection of IT security courses to equip your employees and IT personnel with the latest cybersecurity knowledge they need to protect the organisation. Our 2022 classes are open for registration, so hurry up and sign up now before the slots are filled up!
