Organizations of all sizes and niches use digital solutions, including local and cloud-based software, to streamline their operations. A robust IT infrastructure does much more to enhance your organization’s productivity than all your personnel combined. It enables you to automate multiple tasks and ensure an error-free operation.
While a robust IT infrastructure can offer you advanced automation and machine learning options, the danger of cyber threats always looms. Furthermore, the digital landscape is evolving faster than ever. And the challenging part is that cyber criminals and hackers are also changing their mode of operandi, including releasing all new malware.
The only way to defend yourself against advanced cyber threats is to identify emerging cybersecurity threats and prepare yourself against them. Managed IT services in Philadelphia can play a crucial role in maintaining and optimizing your IT infrastructure, ensuring that your organization operates efficiently and securely. Cyber readiness prepares for existing cyber attack models and protects your site against future threats. Below, we discuss five of the most potentially devastating cyber threats that can threaten the safety of your online presence and how to better protect yourself against them.
Evolving Ransomware
Ransomware continues to be one of your organization’s most devastating cyber threats. It is challenging enough to safeguard your data from known ransomware. The ransomware threat becomes more persistent and threatening as it evolves to bypass advanced security protocols.
With ransomware attacks evolving and becoming more sophisticated, these threats can now target diverse parts of your organization. Alarmingly, these attacks are increasingly targeting critical infrastructure, including healthcare systems and government organizations.
Mitigation Strategies
Several mitigation strategies help you fortify your organization against the threat of ransomware. As an expert in cyber security, we advise you to adhere to the following mitigation strategies to protect your business against the risk of a ransomware attack.
Regular Backups and Employee Training
You must maintain a regular backup process for your business, as it lets you recover your data in the case of a ransomware attack. Besides that, you must also provide quality training to employees to prepare them with a detailed protocol detailing the action plan for a cyber threat.
Patch Management and Cybersecurity Solutions
Patch management involves updating all your software and systems so you can mitigate the risk of a security infiltration via ransomware. You must also implement cybersecurity solutions, including firewalls and anti-ransomware tools for detecting and weeding out threats.
Incident Response Plan
Preparing an Incident Response Plan that provides your employees with a detailed action plan to defend your organization from a ransomware attack is highly advisable. The Incident Response Plan enables you to minimize downtime and efficiently prevent data loss through timely actions of your employees.
Zero-day Vulnerabilities
The challenge of zero-day vulnerabilities is that the threat and its impact are unknown. You may often need help dealing with new software or hardware. And the frustrating part is that you need more time to create a patch for such vulnerabilities.
Mitigation Strategies
Cybercriminals and hackers often take advantage of zero-day vulnerabilities. There are several ways to protect yourself against these attacks, some of which are listed below.
Vulnerability Scanning and Patch Management
One of the best ways to prepare for zero-day vulnerabilities is to ensure regular scanning and efficient patch management. You can use specialized software for scanning and seek professional help to formulate a proactive patch management strategy.
Network Segmentation and Intrusion Detection
You can isolate and segment your critical internal systems to detect suspicious activities specifically for detecting zero-day vulnerabilities. Intrusion detection also serves a similar purpose: identifying suspicious activities or zero-day attacks.
Threat Intelligence
Another essential mitigation strategy for zero-day vulnerabilities is to keep up-to-date with the latest threats and vulnerabilities. An in-depth knowledge of the threat and its impact enables you to identify viable threats and initiate protocols without delays.
Internet of Things (IoT) Insecurity
With OT devices gaining popularity every day, it is more prevalent than ever to have specialized strategies to deal with security issues concerning threats to IoT devices. Hackers can exploit the gaps in your IoT device security to launch much more potent cyber attacks, and you must prepare for the same.
Mitigation Strategies
You can use the following mitigation strategies to minimize the gaps in IoT security and protect your business data.
Network Segmentation and Configuration
Consider segmenting your network based on the IoT devices that use them and incorporate robust authentication methods for your devices. Besides, you should also ensure a secure configuration of passwords and update firmware regularly to minimize security risks.
Regular Audits and Vendor Assessments
It is also advisable to conduct regular audits and vendor assessments to ensure the security of your IoT devices. When choosing IoT devices and services, you must always select one with a good reputation and advanced security protocols.
AI-based Cyberattacks
Coders and writers are not the only people leveraging the capability of AI now. Some of the most critical cyber attacks today leverage advanced AI. The challenging part about such attacks is that they can mimic user behavior, making them significantly more challenging to detect and weed out.
Mitigation Strategies
Implementing mitigation strategies for AI-based cyberattacks can be challenging. The following methods effectively prepare your organization for an AI-powered cyberattack.
AI-based Security Systems
Sometimes, you have to fight fire with fire. One of the most effective ways to protect yourself against AI-based cyberattacks is to use AI-based security solutions that can assess and respond to threats in real-time.
Behavioral Analysis and Anomaly Detection
Another efficient way to protect your organization from AI-based cyber attacks is to use AI for behavioral analysis and anomaly detection. It lets you implement a customized system to recognize AI-based infiltration using previous and real-time data.
Supply Chain Attacks
A coordinated supply chain attack can infiltrate your organization via your most trusted vendors or partners. It can significantly impact your online business and have far-reaching consequences that you must avoid at all costs.
Mitigation Strategies
It would help if you had several mitigation strategies to protect your organization against supply chain attacks. Some of the essential mitigation strategies for supply chain attacks are as follows.
Vendor Checking and Multifactor Authentication
We advise that you objectively assess the cybersecurity practices of all vendors you work with, including new and old suppliers. Besides that, you must also implement multifactor authentication to protect your sensitive business information.
Code Review and continuous Monitoring
We also advise that you constantly review the source code of every software you integrate with your IT infrastructure, including firmware. Code reviewing and continuous Monitoring can ensure the safety of your supply chain and fortify your website against cyberattacks.