5 Major Cyber Threats in 2018 and How to Prevent Them

2018

5 Major

Cyber Threats in 2018 and How to Prevent Them

Just as other reliable external services, outsourced solutions for security could also prove beneficial for your organization.

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Today, cyber threats are emerging at such a rapid pace that businesses in all industry sectors have a hard time mitigating or avoiding such risks. Studies in this regard show how a dedicated provider of outsourced solutions can help prevent cyber threat. Data security is one of the prime concerns, and businesses have to be extra cautious when utilizing document scanning solutions and other such necessary services. It is essential for individuals and businesses to invest in a powerful game plan for prevention, detection and alleviation of cyber threats. Cybersecurity Ventures’ 2017 Cybercrime Report expects cybercrime damages to cost the world $6 trillion annually by the year 2021. Small and mid-sized organizations that find in-house security solutions expensive can choose to outsource the same to capable providers. With the latest advanced technology and talent, providers of outsourced solutions optimize their IT security operations and systems.

Let us consider the major cyber threats (these were compiled by Justin Dolly and published in csoonline.com) that could put business data at risk in the year 2018, and how a good outsourcing service provider can help keep such threats at bay.

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Cryptojacking: It involves the secret use of your computing device to extract cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin. This activity that began towards the end of 2017 is believed to increase in 2018 with the value of cryptocurrencies escalating. The most challenging part is that it creates an indistinct line between ordinary Internet users and the cyber criminal. The largest portion of cryptojacking occurs from legitimate websites that are compromised to extract currency for the criminal wallet.

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Power-shell based attacks: At the beginning of 2017, the Saudi Arabian government were compromised using a macro in Microsoft Word to infect the target’s computer with an information-stealing Trojan. The attack relied on malicious script to maintain hold on the device. These malicious script-based attacks, especially Powershell based attacks, are difficult to identify. These scripts can easily elude antivirus engines and therefore are more appealing to cybercriminals.

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Growth in the number of cybercriminals: Now, tools for cybercriminals are on the rise whereas only minimal knowledge is required to carry out the attacks. This is bound to increase the number of cybercriminals. Ransomware alone was a $1 billion industry last year. The top players in cyber crime are expected to increase their aggressive defence of their criminal territories, areas of functioning and revenue streams.

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Trusted programs, and the software and hardware supply chain could be targeted: More security software could be attacked and exploited in 2018. The attackers can control devices and manipulate users by targeting trusted programs and the software and hardware supply chain. Hackers could exploit security products either directly destabilizing the agent on the endpoint or intercepting and redirecting cloud traffic to achieve their goals.

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Threats similar to Trickbot and WannaCry could increase: WannaCry and Trickbot use worm functionality to spread malware. More malware groups could use this technique in 2018 because network compromise created by worms typically spread much quicker than other methods.

Though the above mentioned are highly possible cyber attacks this year, the threats posed can be mitigated by outsourcing IT security requirements to a reliable service provider. They will proactively monitor for active threats across various networks, which gives them an advantage in identifying and preventing cyber threats. Here are ways in which a good outsourcing service can help you prevent cyber threat in 2018.

Availability of advanced threat detection technology: A professional service provider has a wide range of advanced detection technology to identify vulnerabilities. With better network visibility, they can recognize malicious activities at the initial stage itself. These services can understand the security landscape of an organization and implement a custom solution that suits your organization’s infrastructure and needs. They help with the installation, configuration, optimization and maintenance of security equipment and also ensure complete cyber security.

Ready access to dedicated professionals: Outsourcing enables you to gain ready access to trained and experienced professionals who know how cybercriminals function as well as their techniques. You need not invest in training people and roundthe-clock staffing.

Improved threat detection and response times: They have a trained and experienced team to provide effective security operations round the clock. Their proactive network and endpoint monitoring activities will help identify and respond to cyber threats in real time and minimize damages and disruption. Your employees need not spend valuable time reviewing system logs and alarms to remove false positives, and can deal with security incidents according to the urgency of each.

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Benefit from the latest industry intelligence: To improve security awareness, calculate cyber risk and take defensive actions, threat intelligence is vital. An outsourced security monitoring service provides you access to a wide range of global threat intelligence and useful security knowledge gained across multiple industries.

Obtain an independent evaluation of your cyber threat posture: Assigning an external team of experts to perform a cyber security evaluation or compliance audit will help you achieve independent validation of its security position. They also continuously test the organization’s defences against tools, tactics and procedures employed by black hat hackers to identify unknown gaps and provide the remediation advice needed to deal with them. These tests also help to examine the performance of your current security technology and risk management policies.

It is clear that just as other reliable external services, outsourced solutions for security could also prove beneficial for your organization. You also get to save money substantially because the annual cost of outsourced services could be much lower than hiring an in-house security engineer. With the insight needed to protect your organization, a dedicated provider can help you evaluate security risk, identify and respond to threats, and comply with the latest regulatory requirements.

www.managedoutsource.com

(800) 670 2809