Cyber attacks skyrocketed for businesses in 2023, with nearly half of businesses facing a breach.
As businesses become increasingly digital, the likelihood of them being targeted by criminals increases. And this brings significant repercussions.
Data from the UK government estimates a breach costs a business, regardless of any size, an average of approximately £1,205. For medium and large businesses only, this was approximately £10,830. That isn’t to mention the reputational and operational damage a successful attack can bring to your business.
Understanding the major cyber security and privacy trends facing your business is crucial to protecting your business. We examine the most significant threats to your organisation below, with practical tips for how to arm your business against them.
What are cyber threats of 2024?
Phishing
According to recent data, phishing is the most common type of cyber attack, affecting 84% of businesses who were subject to any breach. Phishing attacks are email-based, with criminals pretending to be trusted organisations to get your staff to click malicious links or share sensitive information.
AI has also enabled criminals to scale the volume of their phishing attempts, which is perhaps why it is so frequent today. Organisations of all sizes will need to find ways of reducing risk and better detect threats that land in your inboxes.
How to prevent phishing
Education is a crucial part of preventing phishing. There are often tell-tale signs an email or message isn’t genuine, such as non-organisational email addresses or suspicious language. Make sure your staff are aware of these to prevent them falling for attempts.
Robust security measures will also help you to ward off phishing attempts, including email filtering and firewalls.
Microsoft 365 has a built-in anti-phishing feature called Advanced Threat Protection. When a user is covered by an ATP policy (safe attachments, links or anti-phishing), incoming messages are evaluated by multiple machine learning models that analyse the message to detect impersonation attempts, unsafe attachments or links. ATP anti-Phishing protects your organisation according to the policies that are set by your Microsoft Office 365 global or security administrators.
Phishing attacks can also be simulated within Advanced Threat Protection. This resource can help to educate your end users so they so that they don’t fall prey to malicious phishing attacks.
Ransomware
Ransomware is another common cyber threat.
It infects organisation’s database systems with encrypted data and the threat to delete or corrupt company data unless a ransom is paid. This has the potential to cause the permanent loss of company data.
How to prevent ransomware
Ransomware prevention requires a multi-faceted approach.
Implement robust security measures to protect your systems and data. This includes using strong firewalls, intrusion detection systems and antivirus software.
You should also develop a comprehensive incident response plan, with steps to contain the infection, isolate affected systems and recover data from backups.
Having a disaster recovery and backup solution in this instance is also imperative.. This ensures business continuity and enables data, networking equipment, hardware, connectivity and more to be restored in such unexpected situations.
Single factor passwords
Simple passwords and repeated use of passwords are the key tool for cyber criminals, from novice hackers right the way up to nation-state players. Simple passwords remain the go-to security protection for the majority of organisations, despite the low cost and ease of deployment of multi-factor authentication solutions. Password theft and password breaches such as brute force attacks will persist as a daily occurrence in 2024.
How to prevent password attacks
Two-factor authentication provides an extra layer of security that is designed to ensure that you’re the only person who can access your account, even if someone knows your password. Two-factor authentication makes it significantly harder for a hacker to access devices and online accounts because knowing the victim’s password alone isn’t enough to gain access to their profile.
Our blog on how to secure your business network explains two-factor authentication and more in detail.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning has become more widely used by since the explosion of AI in 2023.
AI can analyse the available options for exploit and develop strategies that criminals can follow. It can also take information gathered from successful hacks and incorporate that into new attacks, potentially learning how to identify defence strategies from the pattern of available exploits. This evolution may potentially lead to attacks that are significantly harder to defend against.
How to prevent AI-powered attacks
The best way to fight AI is with AI. In the wrong hands, AI can be used to identify weak points and scale attacks. But when used defensively, it can examine attack patterns and negate them, allowing your business to ward off attempts.
Tools like Copilot for Security can support you in this and empower your security staff to better counterbalance AI.
Social engineering
Social engineering is a type of attack that manipulates people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. It exploits human psychology and trust to deceive individuals into compromising security measures or providing sensitive data. Attackers often use tactics such as phishing, pretexting, and baiting to trick victims into falling for their schemes.
One of the significant threats posed by social engineering to businesses is data breaches. By tricking employees into clicking on malicious links or providing login credentials, attackers can gain unauthorised access to sensitive company data. This can lead to financial losses, reputational damage and legal consequences.
How to prevent social engineering attacks
Identity and Access Management (IAM) can play a crucial role in preventing social engineering attacks by implementing robust security measures and controlling access to sensitive systems and data.
IAM solutions can help detect and mitigate phishing attempts by monitoring user behaviour for anomalies, such as unusual login times or locations. Additionally, IAM can enforce strong password policies, requiring users to create complex and unique passwords that are difficult for attackers to guess or brute force. By enforcing multi-factor authentication, IAM can add an extra layer of security, making it more difficult for attackers to gain unauthorised access, even if they have obtained a user’s password.
Furthermore, IAM can limit access to sensitive systems and data based on a user’s role and responsibilities. This principle of least privilege helps to ensure that only authorized individuals have access to the information they need to perform their jobs, reducing the potential damage if a user’s credentials are compromised.
How to improve your defences against common cyber attacks with Infinity Group
With attacks against businesses rising, it’s crucial to protect your business before you face significant financial, reputational and operational consequences.
Fortunately, there are solutions out there to help you win the fight against cyber crime. Microsoft has invested substantial sums into security to create innovation solutions that can protect businesses.
Using these solutions, alongside expert guidance from security professionals, you can better understand the state of your security posture and ensure it is up to scratch.
