Even though cybersecurity awareness is higher than ever, the number of security breaches doesn’t seem to go down. In fact, they continue to be a problem, with hackers coming up with new ways to infiltrate systems and cause harm.
But it isn’t just the hackers that lead to cyberattacks – the individuals on the other side are also responsible for mishandling sensitive data or not implementing the right security measures. This makes these attacks harder to identify and even harder to eliminate.
In this article, we cover some of the most common IT and cybersecurity risks and why being proactive in security management is crucial for your business operations.
10 Common IT and Cybersecurity Risks
Let’s go over the top 10 It and cybersecurity risks for companies:
1. Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of cybersecurity attack that involves infiltrating an organization’s database, stealing vital information, and threatening to alter, destroy, or expose it if ransom is not paid. The consequences of ransomware can be brutal for companies, as private customer data can be released publicly, or data records may be altered.
2. Malware
Malware refers to malicious software hackers use to gain unauthorized access to a website or data system. This includes viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, adware, etc. It can mean a few different things depending on the attack. For example, you might get a virus, which will attach itself to a clean file and spread across the system, infecting other files along the way.
3. Phishing
Phishing, as a cybersecurity attack, relies on human error to work. Hackers may pose as reputable companies and send e-mails using the company name, leading recipients to believe they’re communicating with the right person. This leads to people sharing sensitive information with the hackers, who can use it to cause harm to the organization.
4. DDoS Attacks
DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks involve sending an overwhelming amount of traffic to a web page, causing it to crash. This is done to prevent businesses from keeping up their operations, causing downtime and sometimes leading to great financial losses.
5. Insider Threats
Insider threats happen when an employee of an organization purposely or accidentally shares sensitive data with an outsider. While accidents like this can happen, most of the time, it’s the case of a disgruntled employee or someone who wants to use the information to steal clients, for example. These individuals can be hard to identify because they have authorized access to the data, so their online activity doesn’t look suspicious. Developing an IT roadmap that prioritizes access management and employee training can help mitigate such risks effectively.
6. Trojan Virus
The name of this virus comes from the ancient Greek story about the deceptive Trojan horse. Similarly, trojan viruses infiltrate a computer, posing as legitimate software. If a user accidentally downloads a trojan virus, they allow the trojan to steal or alter information or even grant remote control to the hacker.
7. Password Theft
Password theft is more common than many people think. Weak passwords are one of the biggest security threats to companies, as hackers will sometimes go through employees’ digital footprints to guess their passwords using keywords. Luckily, this is one of the easiest cybersecurity threats to deal with, thanks to multiple-factor authentication.
8. XSS Attacks
XSS (cross-site scripting) attacks involve injecting malicious scripts into web pages and applications to steal sensitive information. This happens when organizations don’t monitor user input and allow for suspicious code to be entered in their websites. Hackers may steal cookies, session tokens, and other user data.
9. Traffic Interception
Traffic interception happens when a hacker disrupts a two-way communication (can be through emails, messages, attachments, etc.) If there’s no network encryption in place, the hacker can easily steal or damage the transferred data. Luckily, this is another security threat that’s more easily manageable through different types of encryption – TLS/SSL, VPN, AES, E2EE, etc.
10. SQL Injection
SQL injection involves inserting malicious SQL code into a vulnerable website. It is done to steal or modify information in a subtle way that often goes unnoticed. However, SQL injection would be so prevalent if developers took cybersecurity more seriously and implemented high-level security features in the backend.
How Cybersecurity Can Affect Your Business
The result of a cybersecurity breach can be devastating for a business, no matter the industry. IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024 revealed that the global average cost of a data breach was $4.88M – up by 10% from the previous year.
IT and cybersecurity risks are especially dangerous for businesses that work with sensitive client data, such as personal health records, legal files, and financial information. If this data is illegally accessed, clients have the right to take legal action against the businesses for not taking proper measures.
And recently, shadow data has emerged as a significant challenge, resulting in one in three data breaches. So, it’s not just data companies are aware of but also data that is shared externally, such as employees sharing it via text messages or social media.
How to Identify Cybersecurity Risks
Given how common cybersecurity breaches are, it’s important to constantly monitor systems for unauthorized users. Make sure to do regular risk assessments and develop strategies to prevent them.
Monitoring user behavior is vital as well. Have a system in place where each employee has personalized access and sharing permissions of company data based on their role. Don’t forget to look into unusual user behavior – you never know what might be going on under the radar.
There is so much more you can do to secure organization data in addition to this, such as software updates and upgrades, employee training, data migration control, etc.
Who Is Responsible for Cybersecurity in Your Organization
Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility on all levels. It’s not just the IT department that’s responsible for detecting and preventing attacks – the rest of the organization should also be mindful of the way they use data and who they share it with.
Many businesses also have a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) (Chief Information Security Officer) who oversees cybersecurity in the firm and implements the most recent best practices.
Frontline: Prevent Common IT and Cybersecurity Risks
Cyber threats shouldn’t be taken lightly – cybersecurity services are a must for every company, regardless of what it does. At Frontline, we have a dedicated IT security team that will keep your company data protected. Our service includes:
- Threat assessment, detection, and mitigation
- Cloud security monitoring
- Log management
- IT security recommendations
- Implementation of cybersecurity best practices, and more.
Contact us today, and we’ll help you understand your IT security needs.