TiyanIT security opened in 2022 with the discovery of Log4j vulnerability, or "Log4shell," at the end of November 2021 bring about realization to the current IT condition. As the world transition towards the digital realm, it opens large windows for bad actors to capitalize on unprepared targets.
World Economic Forum assessed in 2021 that cyber-attack is within the top 5 of risk business will face and continue to be so in the foreseeable future. Worse is that only 0.05 percent of companies can detect incoming attacks.
A thorough understanding of the impact of a cyber attack on businesses is essential for today's business owners. This article will provide you with information regarding how it works, its impact, and what you can do to mitigate it.
How Cyber Attack Targeted Business
Today cyber attack on businesses is primarily conducted in three phases. By understanding these phases, businesses can create reliable mitigation plan in case such an attack happen.
Phase I: Reconnaissance
Phase one aims to determine how weak the target IT security is and how the bad actors can exploit those weak points. This phase allows bad actors to piece any information they can gather, thus revealing the critical weak points they can attack.
This phase itself is divided into two categories: active and passive reconnaissance.
- Active Reconnaissance: In this type of reconnaissance, bad actors will proactively try to collect target information. Ping or traceroute are among the tools used to conduct this reconnaissance.
- Passive Reconnaissance: Also called footprinting, this type of reconnaissance is conducted to less alert the subject of reconnaissance. The typical operation of passive recon is to visit the target website or look up any information in public records.
Both active and passive reconnaissance have their advantages and disadvantages. Active allows bad actors to gather more critical data at the risk of being detected. Meanwhile, Passive will result in less alert but also less reliable information.
Phase II: Infiltration
The next step, infiltration, is when bad actors take over the target's network by exploiting known weaknesses from previous reconnaissance. Through this weakness, bad actors will gain access through remote access to the system administrator.
Phase III: Conclusion
Lastly, the third phase of the attack, the conclusion, will be the most known result of a cyber attack on businesses. Bad actors can now attack the target through remote access in the system administrator.
Most attacks will target data or credentials that then can be repurposed for further gains, such as monetary. Lastly, bad actors will either terminate the connection or create backdoors for future access.
Impact of Cyber Attack on Businesses
Cyber attacks on businesses will significantly impact both the company and its customers in today's environment. IBM report that the average cost of a data breach in 2021 reached $4.24 million, up to a 10% increase from the previous year.
While pandemics play a significant role in shifting towards a digital environment for businesses, it also shows the readiness against cyber attack.
However, the cost is not the only impact cyber attack have on businesses. Here are some ways a cyber attack can hamper business.
- Operational Disruption
Operational disruption can be one of the intended or unintended results of a cyber attack operation. For example, bad actors can hamper business operations by installing malicious code or malware to destroy any critical data needed to perform its activity.
- Reputational Damage
Brand reputation is one of the things that businesses are trying hard to keep in a good light, and falling victim to cyber-attack may not be the best way to keep it. Both customer and business partner may see the business as less reliable and no longer trustworthy to work with or use.
- Stolen Intelectual Property
Intellectual property can also be one of the objectives that bad actors aim for when conducting cyber-attack on businesses. Company product design, technologies, and go-to-market strategies are some of the assets that bad actors are looking for.
Measure to Reduce Risk
With the increasing risk of bad actors stealing over operation-critical data, creating and implementing proper measures against security breaches become necessities.
While a dedicated expert is always preferable, businesses can take steps to reduce the risk of being a victim of a cyber attack.
- Reduce Data Transfer
Businesses can reduce data transfer between environments in and out of the IT system as the first step. As bad actors will try to find as many vulnerabilities as possible, access through data transfer can be the easiest way for bad actors to gain entry.
Businesses should keep crucial information in a separate business device, thus reducing the chance of access.
- Use Better Passwords
A complex password is the first defensive line against any force entry attempt into an IT system. By using a combination of words, symbols, and numbers with substantial length, it will make it more difficult for programs to force open the passwords.
Furthermore, the use of two factors authentication can help significantly in reducing the chance of unwanted access from stolen credentials.
- Update to the Latest Software
Software providers continuously provide better service and more secure versions of their applications. Updating their application to the latest version will allow businesses to avoid previously known vulnerabilities.
- Develop Response Plan
Lastly, developing a response plan to manage the response and recovery from cyberattacks will allow businesses to reduce the potential damage it may cause.
Do you know that cyber-attacks can happen even to the most careful and disciplined businesses. It is why it is essential to have a dedicated cybersecurity plan within today's business environment.
Prepare Now
While in-house mitigation measures can slightly reduce the chance of data breach, it would be much better for businesses to have a dedicated cybersecurity team. Not only can it respond to the breach much faster, but it can also prevent such breaches from ever happening in the first place.
Therefore, Wowrack offers managed security solutions for businesses that need a dedicated cybersecurity team in their environment. With our service, you can:
- Expand existing IT security teams with our experts or let us fully manage your data 24/7,
- Receive information from our automated security detection and response, and
- Easily adjusted to your needs and standards.
To sum up, it is clear to see that businesses will be under constant threat of cybercrime in the future. Do not wait until it is too late! Let us help you secure your data and mitigate any vulnerabilities in the future. Let Wowrack helps you.
