Cybersecurity today matters so much because of everyone's dependence on technology, from collaboration, communication, and collecting data to e-commerce and entertainment. Every organization that needs to deliver services to their customers and employees must protect their IT network(s) and all of the apps and connected devices from laptops and desktops to servers and smartphones.
Traditionally, all of these would be limited to only one corporate network. Networks today are often made up of the devices themselves and how they are connected across the internet, sometimes via VPNs, to the homes and cafes people work, to the cloud and data centers where services operate.[1]
How you can better prepare your organization:
Misconfiguration - According to recent research by Verizon, misconfiguration errors and misuse now make up 14% of breaches. Misconfiguration errors occur when configuring a system or application to be less secure. This can happen when you change a setting without fully understanding the consequences or when an incorrect value is entered. Either can create a serious vulnerability - for example, a misconfigured firewall can allow unauthorized access to an internal network, or a wrongly configured web server could leak sensitive information.
Outdated software - Software and app developers constantly release updates with patches to cover vulnerabilities that have been discovered in their code. Applying patches to fix these vulnerabilities across an organization's network of devices can be time-consuming and complex, but it is essential to maintaining cyber security. If you do not update your software, firmware, and operating systems to the latest versions as (soon) as they are released, you are leaving your network exposed. A vulnerability scanner will give you a real-time inventory of all the software that needs updating and detect misconfigurations that reduce your security so that you can stay as secure as possible.
DDoS attack - The previous two threats are usually exploited to breach networks and steal information. Still, a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack is meant to shut down your network and make it inaccessible.
This can be done by any means, either with malware or by flooding the target network with traffic or sending information that triggers a crash, such as requesting overly complex queries that lock up a database. In each case, the DDoS attack prevents customers or employees from using the service or resources they expect.
DDoS attacks often target websites of high-profile organizations such as banks, media companies, and governments. Although DDoS attacks do not usually result in the theft or loss of data, they can cost you a great deal of time and money to handle. A properly configured content delivery network (CDN) can help protect websites against DoS attacks and other common malicious attacks.
Application bugs - A software bug is an error, flaw, or fault in an application or system that causes it to produce an incorrect or unexpected result. Bugs exist in every piece of code for all sorts of reasons, from improper testing or messy code to a lack of communication or inadequate specifications documents.
Not all bugs are cyber security issues or vulnerable to exploitation where an attacker can use the fault to access the network and run code remotely. Some bugs like SQL injection can be very serious and allow attackers to compromise your site or steal data. Not only do SQL injections leave sensitive data exposed, but they can also enable remote access and control of affected systems. This is just one example of an application bug, but many others exist.
Injections are common if developers have not had sufficient security training, when mistakes are made and not code reviewed, or when combined with inadequate continuous security testing. Even when all these things are done properly, mistakes can still occur, which is why it is still ranked as the number one threat in the OWASP Top Ten Web Application Security Risks. Fortunately, many injection vulnerabilities (and other application-level security bugs) can be detected with an authenticated web vulnerability scanner and penetration testing for more sensitive applications.
Attack surface management - How can you secure your business if you do not know what internet-facing assets you own? This is important information when developing cyber defenses. Without a complete and updated inventory of internet-facing assets, you do not know what services are available and how attackers can attempt to breach. Keeping on top of them and ensuring they are being monitored for weaknesses is not easy, as IT estates grow and evolve almost daily.
When companies try to document their systems, they often manually update a simple spreadsheet. Between configuration changes, new technologies, and shadow IT, they rarely know exactly what assets they own or where. But discovering, tracking, and protecting all these assets is a critical component of strong security for every business. New tools. Services and expertise will be required.
Attackers use automated tools to identify and exploit vulnerabilities and access unsecured systems, networks, or data for large and small organizations. Finding and exploiting vulnerabilities with automated tools is simple: the attacks listed above are cheap, easy to perform, and often indiscriminate, so every organization is at risk. All it takes is one vulnerability for an attacker to access your network.
Knowing where your vulnerabilities and weak points are is the first and most important step. If you spot your vulnerabilities early, you can address them before an attacker can exploit them. A vulnerability scanner is a cloud-based service that identifies computer systems, networks, and software security vulnerabilities. Intruder monitors your publicly and privately accessible servers, cloud systems, websites, and endpoint devices by scanning your internal and external attack surfaces. Fewer targets for hackers mean fewer vulnerabilities for you to plan against.
Red Sky Alliance is a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence Service organization. For questions, comments or assistance, please contact the office directly at 1-844-492-7225 or feedback@wapacklabs. com
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[1] https://thehackernews.com/2022/09/5-network-security-threats-and-how-to.html
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