Nobody can afford to ignore the threat of cyber crime. As the number of incidents of hacking and other attacks continues to rise, it’s clear that we all need to up our game if we hope to defend ourselves against the risk of a data breach. And one of the best ways to stay ahead of the cyber criminals is to keep apprised of the latest types of attacks being carried out.
A Variety Of Threats
With recent news articles such as highlighting that more than half of small to medium sized businesses fell victim to cyber attacks in 2022, it’s clear that there are sophisticated attempts being made on a variety of organisations. And this year, the major types of cyber attacks affecting businesses are likely to fall into the following categories: AI powered attacks, computer vandalism, cross-site scripting (also known as XSS), Denial of Service (DoS) attacks, and malware, including ransomware.
Whilst some of these types of attack may already be familiar, the newer types may not. AI powered attacks are a major new development, in which cyber criminals harness the enormous processing capabilities afforded by cloud computing to launch a high volume of automated attacks. This kind of technology is being used to carry out a wide variety of attacks, from phishing attempts to launching malware.
Meanwhile, cross-site scripting sees harmful code added to the code for an organisation’s website, allowing criminals to access and steal valuable data from users. And a DoS attack sees a target system overwhelmed by a high volume of requests, causing it to crash. When a company’s website is targeted in this way, the resulting downtime can prove extremely costly.
Defend Your Organisation
Thankfully, there are many preventative steps that may be taken, even in the face of the most sophisticated attempts to steal data or damage vital systems. For example, create a “zero trust” culture for access to sensitive data files, or maintain staff training for safe internet use. New technologies such as AML ID verification tools can also be a powerful tool in the fight against ID fraud, with more information available from specialists such as w2globaldata.com/an-idiots-guide-to-aml-kyc-id-verification.
And, if you operate in the cloud, being sure to apply all updates and patches is vital. After all, by following best practice guidelines, you can significantly reduce the threat to your business.