What is cybersecurity?

The internet has shaped how we live our lives in so many different ways. Cybersecurity plays an important role.

We are now more dependent on a digital lifestyle than ever before. From shopping and banking to socializing and meeting new people. The internet has brought people closer and given us so many benefits.

On the other hand, nevertheless, it has also brought us new problems. nowadays even syndicated crimes are taking place in this medium of the metaverse, and the internet has enabled these dangers into our homes and digital lives.

Cybersecurity’s whole principle is to protect people from dangers & threats that come with the digital world.

By using different tools and methods, we can protect our computers and personal data. With a strong cybersecurity system, we can relax and enjoy the digital world with no fear of being taken advantage of.

Why is cybersecurity so important?

Many neglects to protect their computers in the same way as they do for their home or possessions. Without a proper defense mechanism, cybersecurity threats can cause all sorts of trouble.

They can vary from being a mild nuisance to ruining your life. Viruses can range from slowing down your computer to deleting all your files and attempting to infect more computers.

Some viruses are known as “Ransomware” could hold your computer hostage in exchange for money. Another threat for online users is scammers whose main purpose is to phish for your bank details.

And for organized crime, it’s most profitable to go to the big leagues.

In fact, a 2020 report by Verizon shows that the majority of data breaches were motivated by financial gain. And digital businesses are the most vulnerable to these sorts of attacks.

Giving out confidential information, such as our bank details and addresses, put these businesses at risk.

For a business to be profitable, it needs to gain its users’ trust. If businesses fail to protect their users’ data, they face distrust from customers and it leads to inevitable losses.

The users of an online platform, carry the most risk. The user’s personal data is always at stake when exposed to scammers on a digital platform. Scammers could take advantage of their personal data in many different ways such as using it in the black market to commit fraud or even identify threats.

Top 5 Cybersecurity mistakes that companies make & their Solution-

Cybersecurity requires a holistic organizational approach. From the leadership to each rank-and-file employee, a concerted effort must be maintained to establish, execute and follow through with a plan to address cyber-risk management from all corners of the organization.

Although there is no “one-size-fits-all” plan for organizations’ cyber-risk management needs, there are basic, core principles that every organization should adhere to, in order to maintain a solid security posture in the face of persistent attacks.

“Cybersecurity doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Just as the threats are interconnected, so are the solutions.”

Mistake 1: Believing it won’t happen to you

Not assuming that you are also a potential target, is the biggest mistake an organization can make. From Wall Street to Main Street, whether large or small, companies in virtual mediums in every industry are vulnerable to attacks. Often, however, the stories that make the news headlines are about the theft of credit card data theft or personal identity threat. As a result, companies that don’t handle this type of data often believe they are not a desirable target for cyber adversaries. In reality, adversaries are conducting massive campaigns in every sector of the economy to penetrate networks and exhilarate information and assets. Organizations certainly have information of value; they are in business, and customers are buying what they have. Every organization needs to recognize the fact that every organization holds valuable data about their customers and they should work towards detecting and preventing the potentially devastating damage that cyber-attacks can cause.

What if the company network was damaged beyond repair for a couple of weeks? What if, as a result, payroll couldn’t be paid, communication with clients was stalled or product websites shut down? What if a hacker could sabotage a company’s most vital equipment? Increasingly, adversaries are not only taking data, but also using digital attacks to physically destroy real assets.

Solution: Take this risk seriously and come up with strategies to protect your system with the use of cybersecurity. Once your company’s leadership starts addressing cybersecurity as a business priority, you need to find qualified security experts to conduct assessments and testing that identifies vulnerabilities throughout the company’s technology, people and processes.

Mistake 2: The Staff are not trained on how to handle the Security issue

Approaching security as just an IT issue is another issue. This is not “the CIO’s problem.” Technology is a part of the solution, but the holistic response requires a comprehensive strategy, policy and process. While the CIO or CISO may ultimately be the “accountable executive,” everyone in the organization, especially the C-suite, owns the data and has a responsibility to protect the company’s core assets.

Companies need to focus not only on protecting personally identifiable information (PII) but also on guarding intellectual property, trade secrets, research and development and more. Cybersecurity attacks impact organizations’ bottom line, financial position, reputation and operations, and having clear policies and processes in place will help companies and their employees to respond most effectively.

Solution: The risk to the company via the cyber vector should be elevated to the highest levels of the company’s decision-making body, including members of the board on a periodic basis. While business leaders aren’t required to know technical details, they must have enough threat awareness to be able to help formulate adequate cyber-response plans and allocate sufficient resources to carry out these plans. Through training, education and simulations, teach the whole company—from the top down—how to identify threats and prevent and recover from attacks.

Mistake 3: Outdated Software

Neglecting to understand and update your network is the third issue that companies can face. Companies will never be able to prevent every attack; networks and the target space are too vast and there are too many opportunities to get in. But failing to understand the architecture structure of your network and keep your software updated opens the door for an adversary to breach the system with little, to no resistance.

Solution: At the enterprise level, the IT team must implement strong protocols to ensure all software is updated in a timely manner. The organization must know where its critical data is, how big the network is, where the egress points are and how the network is segmented. A lack of understanding of the basic network principles and standard “network hygiene” puts the company at unnecessary risk. Have a sense of urgency and get it done.

Mistake 4: Outdated Anti-virus

Relying solely on anti-virus technologies is the fourth threat. In today’s sophisticated threat landscape, anti-virus technologies alone are not sufficient to prevent persistent and advanced attacks.

Adversaries evolve their tradecraft faster than security companies can update their tools. What is compounding the challenge is that attackers increasingly employ malware-free intrusion tactics. In fact, less than 40 percent of attacks today involve malware. You cannot rely on security at the perimeter alone to keep the enterprise safe.

Solution: Anti-virus software is still useful and must be kept up to date. However, responding only to threats that have already been identified is like being a bank guard who lets a robber come in because the police haven’t released a description of a robbery suspect yet. A good bank guard knows to look for malicious activity anywhere it might be found. Traditional anti-virus solutions may catch run-of-the-mill malware but are no match for advanced adversaries going in with stealthy intrusion tactics. Organizations need to employ solutions that identify adversary objectives and the effects of the attack, even if there are no known signatures.

Mistake 5: End-to-end monitoring services regularly

And the last but not least mistake is failing to monitor your enterprise endpoints. The conventional “defense-in-depth” model has focused on defending the perimeter of an organization. Today, more often than not, adversaries are finding ways to penetrate the network and execute code at the system’s endpoints. We are also witnessing a continuous and ever-evolving sophistication in adversary tradecraft beyond anything we’ve seen before. Watching the perimeter only allows for “silent failure.” That is, once an adversary is inside, he operates freely without the threat of detection because nobody is looking. He will operate with impunity, posing a grave danger to your organization.

Solution: Employ technologies that monitor endpoints continuously. Endpoint visibility is critical for making the transition from reactive security to proactive hunting and detection.

Aggregating large swaths of data and looking for anomalous behavior across the enterprise will help to identify indicators of attack. If you can identify adversary activity expeditiously, you can isolate and mitigate the attacker’s impact on your network.

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