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Clever Cybersecurity Threats That Will Make Your Skin Crawl

Do you know these clever cybersecurity threats? Learn their sneaky methods and how to create a comprehensive strategy to manage the risks to your company.  

Security Threats To Business

Norton Security, the online security company, estimates that the average major cybersecurity data breach costs a single US company nearly eight million dollars. Although you’d prefer to invest that eight million in growing your company, you could be spending it to regain access to customer data, reputation management, fines and the like.

Cybersecurity threats are costly. But they’re also sneaky, making protecting yourself seem elusive and out of your control. But the truth is that a business of any size can take comprehensive steps to reduce their risk and it all starts with understanding what those threats are.

The Four Types of Cybersecurity Threats

Cybersecurity experts break threats down into four primary categories. While there is some overlap in these methods, ultimately cybercriminals are trying to find innovative ways to get past your defenses. These four corners must be considered in any cybersecurity strategy.

Ransomware

A cybercriminal gains access to your systems often through a downloaded malware file. They lock down your customer and/or company data with encryption. The only way to unlock it is to pay a ransom to the criminal.

The ransom amount is typically scaled to the size of the business to increase the likelihood you’ll pay them. But paying makes this type of sneaky cyberattack profitable, perpetuating the exploitation of more victims. Cities, health systems, financial institutions, public transit and more have all fallen victim to these attacks.

Malware

Trojan horses, viruses, spyware and worms all fall into this category. This type of threat may be used to steal proprietary, financial, or other private information. In other cases, its role may simply be to disrupt business operations. The latter may seem like an attack from a competitor. But, more often, it’s for no other reason than the power-trip and bragging rights that some people get when they take advantage of others.

Social Engineering

These attacks trick employees into breaking security protocols. Someone may pretend to be your boss’ boss, a government agency, client, student, patient, etc. in an attempt to get your employees to relay private information they can then use to steal identities/money or otherwise wreak havoc.

Phishing

Phishing usually comes in through email but could also be a text or phone call. Similar to social engineering, it makes statements to build trust as it encourages someone to take any action that will compromise security. This may be to something like:

  • Download a file (malware)
  • Enter login information on a spoofed site
  • Send money

The Six Pillars of Cybersecurity

Just like there are four types of threats, there must also be several solutions that target these threats from different angles. Just having virus protection or a firewall is not enough. Let’s look at these six pillars.

  1. Operational security – This is a process of identifying protected assets, classifying them, considering who has access to what, evaluating the risks posed to each and then developing an action plan to manage those risks.
  2. Application security – This involves deploying software, hardware and protocols to protect your applications from corruption. This might include anti-virus, firewall, rules about use of 3rd party software and similar measures.
  3. Information security – These are the steps you take to protect customer and company data. It may include things like encryption, passwords, levels of access and policies on how information is accessed, who can access it, etc.
  4. Network security – This is online security, locking down your network so that no one can use it without authorization or intercept information transferred on the network.
  5. Disaster recovery/business continuity planning – This comprehensive written plan details how you’ll recover in the event of an attack. It will include things like secure cloud backup as well as an operations plan during and after an event. That event could be virtual or a physical disaster. It’s important to plan for both.
  6. Employee education – Cybercriminals are clever and the methods of deceit are ever-changing. These people are professional scammers who know exactly what to say. So all employees must know about these tricks and understand their role in managing security risks.

Cybercriminals deploy many sneaky methods to steal or ransom your data. Because of this, it’s important to tackle security from all angles using a comprehensive strategy.

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Elizabeth Mitrani
Elizabeth Mitrani
17:23 06 Aug 19
Palindrome Consulting was key in establishing my business and helps me keep it running. They are the consummate... professionals, incredibly knowledgeable and are always available to help. They have gone above and beyond to ensure that I was up and running quickly and that any issues that may arise on my end or dealt with immediately. I highly recommend Palindrome Consulting.read more
Moshe Rubinstein
Moshe Rubinstein
14:57 28 Jun 19
They are there every step of the way. Responsive and timely. The full service mentality mixed with the problem solving... abilities, is what makes them an easy choice.read more
Benjamin Wainberg
Benjamin Wainberg
14:09 28 Jun 19
Palindrome Consulting is customer centric. For Palindrome Data Safety is paramount; they keep their and our systems... updated with the newest technologies and are not shy at changing to better alternatives. Their platforms are always running and in the odd case there is an event, their technical team has an awesome response time.read more
Copier Man
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We have been using Palindrome since 2005. They make my company feel like we are #1 all the time. Expert staff are... always available to help all my users all around the country.read more
Martin Feldman
Martin Feldman
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As a partner in Fischer & Feldman, P.A. we have utilized Palindrome Consulting as our IT experts for many years. In... addition to keeping our server up and running, they are available to consult on the everchanging cloud and web landscape. We could not function as a successful law firm without their constant care, attention and almost IMMEDIATE RESPONSE TIME.read more
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Rebecca Fischer
16:39 26 Jun 19
Palindrome has been my IT company for more than 15 years. We have been through four server and computer replacements... over the years all of which went smoothly. As technology has changed Palindrome has kept us current in their recommendations and are extremely responsive when we run into a software or hardware problem. We have been through hurricanes with Palindrome and felt confident they would have us up and running as quickly as possible and despite the fact we are probably a smaller client, they have treated us as one of their most important clients. I highly recommend Palindrome and have complete confidence in their capabilities and service. They have even gone the extra mile when we wanted to donate our old computers to a children's special needs school and delivered the computers, set them up and provided service for the same. Ilan Sredni is the consummate professional and has surrounded himself with top professionals and skilled technicians.read more
Nelson T
Nelson T
20:32 25 Jun 19
Palindrome Consulting has proven itself time and time again to be the epitome of professionalism and technical... expertise. They take the time to listen to your needs and then apply their wealth of technical knowledge to create truly innovative and robust solutions. They truly deliver piece of mind.read more
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