The cyberthreat landscape is always in flux, with new risks emerging by the minute. So if you’re a business owner, it pays to keep up with the latest in cybersecurity to protect your data and minimize downtime. By keeping abreast in this area, you can develop better strategies to manage threats and mitigate risks.
Here are the top cyberthreats you should watch out for in 2023.
Phishing
With billions of spam emails sent daily worldwide, phishing is the biggest and most prevalent form of cybercrime today.
Phishing is a social engineering attack that uses email, text messages, or other forms of communication to trick victims into divulging their personal information or lure them into downloading malware. Phishing messages take advantage of people’s trust and naivety by impersonating someone the victim knows, and they often include urgent requests or promises of rewards. Phishers then use victims’ data to carry out criminal acts, such as fraud or selling stolen information on the black market.
Ransomware
Ransomware has constantly been a top concern in recent years, and it’s expected to continue being a threat to businesses in 2023. In a ransomware attack, the hacker takes control of a victim’s files by encrypting them, then demands money in exchange for the decryption key.
Ransomware attacks are often launched to extract quick payment, especially from large corporations. If successful, it can cause considerable financial damage to organizations and even shut a small business down.
Supply chain attacks
These attacks typically involve hackers targeting a third-party vendor to access a larger organization’s systems. The danger in supply chain attacks lies in the fact that they can be hard to prevent, detect, and remediate. They can also stay hidden for a long time while attackers carry out damaging activities. This enables perpetrators to target multiple components of a system and leave wide-reaching effects on an organization’s operations.
Cryptojacking
Cryptojacking refers to when cybercriminals install malicious software on someone else’s devices to illegally use their computing resources to mine cryptocurrency. This can cause significant damage to victims’ systems, including draining device batteries, slowing down performance, and consuming processing power, memory, internet bandwidth, and storage space.
Cryptojacking can rack up huge financial losses from stolen computing resources, with attackers generating huge profits at the expense of individual users or entire organizations. Worse, this attack can be hard to detect because of its covert nature. Often, victims have no idea that their computers have been compromised or used for illicit purposes.
Zero-day exploits
Zero-day exploits capitalize on software or hardware vulnerabilities unknown to manufacturers. These types of attacks can be difficult to defend against since the vulnerabilities have not been identified and addressed yet. Traditional security measures such as antivirus software, firewalls, and patch management may not be able to identify or block the attack until after the breach has already occurred. This makes it challenging for organizations to keep their networks safe from zero-day exploits and the damage they can cause.
How can an MSP protect your business from these cyberthreats?
It’s critical to be informed about the latest threats so you can defend your data against them. This is where a managed IT services provider (MSP) can be invaluable to your business.
Not only will a reliable MSP help you keep up with what’s happening in the cybersecurity landscape, but they will also provide a suite of services and solutions that can safeguard your business from online threats. These offerings typically include everything from threat detection, vulnerability assessments, spam and virus control, and safer user access. These proactive measures allow them to monitor networks and detect any anomaly or malicious activity before it impacts your operations. On top of this, an MSP can create comprehensive backup plans to enable data recovery in case of an attack.
LANPRO Systems is one of the best MSPs in Bakersfield, California. By partnering with us, your business can stay ahead of current and emerging cyberthreats. Contact us today.
