New cyberattacks and real cyber threats
Most London companies are now investing huge amounts in cybersecurity to stay ahead of emerging cyber threats. But while it is important to be up to date with the latest trends in cybercrime, they may not necessarily target your business. In fact, a gap exists between the newest cyber threats and the most common cyberattacks that plague companies.
The reality indicates that common security vulnerabilities lie in a fixed set of patterns. These recurring issues will then dictate the kinds of cyber threats your business may encounter. For example, businesses both large and small use the same popular software and similar communication channels. These apps and platforms have fixed loopholes and backdoors that hackers often exploit to gain access to your system and steal data.
Often the cyber threats your business encounters will be traditional, long-standing types of cyberattacks. Therefore, staying informed of the specific cyber threats posed to your business can help you identify and mitigate security vulnerabilities.
Common cyber threats your business is facing
Below we explore some of the cyberattack trends that many businesses will overlook when considering cybersecurity measures. So, here are some of the most common cyber threats facing businesses today:
Social engineering attacks
Social engineering refers to where a user or employee is fooled into opening a malicious link or attachment. This umbrella term encompasses many kinds of cyberattacks which use trickery to target your business. The aim of social engineering cyber threats is ultimately to shut down your systems, steal sensitive information, or gain control of critical infrastructure.
Social engineering typically involves cybercriminals disguising their attacks as innocent advertising or legitimate content. This commonly involves hiding malware in seemingly real anti-virus updates or other urgent software. Once downloaded, the malware further hides itself by operating in the background or taking the appearance of important system processes.
Over time, cybercriminals have heavily favoured social engineering tactics to help spread malware. And although other common cybercriminal tactics now seek out unpatched software vulnerabilities, they require a different level of skill. So, for many amateur hackers today, it is often easier to revert to traditional social engineering attacks.
In fact, cybercrime has developed into a sophisticated underground market. Malicious code is prepackaged into malware-as-a-service (MaaS), allowing amateurs to buy and use malware as they wish. All they need to do is deliver it to the victim. This is where social engineering cyber threats have made a return for easy access to your sensitive data.
Phishing and spear phishing attacks
Currently, phishing is the highest reported cyberattack in UK businesses. Working through social engineering tactics, phishing cyber threats traditionally occur through email, whereby the sender attaches a malicious link or attachment. The malicious actor may use urgency, emotion or an authoritative tone to persuade the recipient to act on the message.
Phishing traps can involve willingly sharing personal information such as account logins, passwords, and bank details. Downloads may lead to ransomware which locks and steals business data, and malware which accesses confidential files, or even takes control of your device.
For example, cybercriminals may use sophisticated phishing techniques, where malicious content appears to be a legitimate website. This tricks your employees into entering their user ID and password for that company. Their account details are then immediately transferred to the criminal who can choose to abuse it or exploit it for profit on online black markets.
Despite most phishing emails appearing in spam, all it takes is a single well-disguised email to infect your business device and cause significant damage. And although spam filters can be a useful tool, they are not 100% effective against all malware. As a result, many businesses overlook the importance of cyber training in helping employees to successfully identify and stop a phishing attack.
Today, traditional phishing cyber threats have evolved into what is known as spear-phishing. It involves the criminal impersonating a position of authority such as a government official or a boss. This type of cyber threat is specifically calculated and poses a significant risk to businesses today. This is because employees tend to act without question when faced with the real consequences of deadlines or requests from legitimate bodies. Cybercriminals can then quickly extract important information, without the victims acting on suspicion.
Trojans
The term Trojan encompasses a wide range of computer viruses and malware that pose as legitimate system software. These individually designed cyber threats use sophisticated techniques to evade anti-virus software and other security measures. This means they are specifically categorised based on their operation and are usually willingly downloaded by the victim.
Some of the commonly encountered Trojans include backdoors, rootkits, downloaders, RATs, and droppers. Rootkits allow threat actors unauthorised access to your device and are virtually undetectable as they hide their presence completely. Once detected, rootkits are very difficult to remove as they replicate themselves and crash the host. RATS or Remote Access Trojans provide cybercriminals access to systems and surveillance devices from a geographically distant location.
Your organisation must have a strict cybersecurity practices policy in place to prevent Trojans form being installed or encountered by employees. In this policy, you must include access controls and restrictions on downloading software from the internet. Additionally, it should detail web protection measures which are to be continuously configured into every workstation.
Ransomware
In recent times, ransomware has gained significant media attention due to various high-profile attacks. These include the Royal Mail data breach in January 2023 and Synnovis attack in July 2024. And despite the reluctance to report breaches, it is now apparent that ransomware attacks have been growing year by year since 2019. So, don’t assume that ransomware only applies to large enterprises as the ransomware epidemic shows no signs of discrimination.
A ransomware attack typically involves the attacker gaining unauthorised access to confidential accounts and encrypting it from the victim. For your business, this could mean you lose access to unique and sensitive files which can’t be recovered unless you have a backup system with copies. The hacker will then request a ransom in exchange for the encryption key, usually in the form of cryptocurrency.
Often, ransomware is downloaded from phishing emails, and will lock away part of your device or sometimes entire systems. For hackers, this can be a lucrative cyberattack, as many businesses will not have the measures to handle extensive downtime, so will simply pay the ransom. Ransomware also follows the basic principles of Trojan cyber threats as they resemble harmless software to trick the user into downloading it.
Need further support with cyber threats?
If you feel that your cybersecurity protections are not sufficient against these cyber threats, you might want to consider reaching out to a professional IT support company for extensive support. At totality services, we provide cutting edge London IT cybersecurity services for multi-layered system defence and protection against a suite of cyber threats. For a free consultation, simply contact our team and we’d be more than happy to discuss your requirements today!