The global internet user base has witnessed a significant expansion, with a 1.8% increase translating to a remarkable 97 million new users joining the online community in 2023.This surge brings the global total of internet users to 5.35 billion, indicating that approximately 66.2% of the world’s population is now connected to the Internet.
As users become increasingly reliant on the internet and businesses expand their digital footprint, cybercriminals seize more opportunities to capitalize on user negligence. Therefore, it is imperative to remain vigilant and proactive in safeguarding ourselves online.
This Internet Safety Month is a timely reminder for businesses to identify potential vulnerabilities and revamp their security frameworks to prevent future exploitation.
Thinking Beyond Passwords in the World of Emerging Threats
Attackers are becoming more sophisticated every day. Enforcing strong passwords alone doesn’t seem to be working anymore. They take their time to select and carefully study their potential victims, instead of launching their attacks in a “smash and grab” style. In short, they infiltrate, lie low, and attack when the time is right.
In April 2024, an employee at LastPass received a suspicious audio call from someone pretending to be LastPass CEO Karim Toubba. The scammer had created a fake WhatsApp account and used AI to replicate Toubba’s voice in a voice message.
However, the employee recognized that the communication was outside of normal business channels and contained signs of “forced urgency,” which are tactics often used by scammers. While artificial intelligence (AI) has been used by organizations to analyze real-time threats and identify anomalies, it has also introduced AI-driven cyberattacks, such as AI-generated phishing schemes and deepfake videos.
Another significant threat variant is the Ransomware as a Service (RaaS) model. The average cost of a ransomware attack has risen to $4.45 million, with the largest payment ever exceeding $1 billion, highlighting that being targeted can lead to significant financial, operational, and reputational costs.
Under this cybercrime model, a ransomware group sells its ransomware code to hackers, who then use it to carry out attacks. This method is particularly appealing as hackers can profit from extortion without developing their malware, and ransomware developers can increase their profits without manually attacking networks.
Other threats include phishing, pretexting, and baiting attacks that exploit human tendencies like curiosity, leveraging psychological tactics to deceive and manipulate individuals. These attacks trick users into unwittingly downloading malware, divulging sensitive information, or taking actions that can expose themselves or their organizations to cyber threats. As such, it’s paramount for individuals and organizations to remain vigilant and implement robust cybersecurity measures to mitigate these risks effectively.
Implementing Enhanced Security Posture
Given the inherent risks associated with innovation, fortifying security measures is not a suggestion; it’s an absolute necessity. Organizations need to take a proactive approach in building a strong cybersecurity foundation through the implementation of a tailored framework.
- Cybersecurity Audit: As the saying goes “You can’t protect what you can’t see,” visibility is key in cybersecurity. An IT Asset Management (ITAM) system creates a comprehensive inventory of all IT assets – hardware, software, and network devices, allowing organizations to understand what needs to be protected and creates an audit trail that aids in identifying unauthorized access and suspicious activity.
- Conduct Risk Assessment: A cybersecurity risk assessment requires an organization to identify its most vulnerable assets and map out the threat landscape. Using a risk matrix, risk scenarios are classified based on their likelihood and impact.
- Create an Incident Response Plan (IRP): An IRP outlines a series of steps to identify, contain, and eradicate a threat. Once the threat is contained, the focus shifts to restoring normal operations, recovering lost data, and improving the security posture. Modern cybercriminals are methodical, and this makes a well-defined IRP even more critical.
- Deploy Identity and Access Management (IAM) tools: With an IAM framework in place, IT managers can ensure that only authorized users can access sensitive information, thus improving security levels. Moreover, IAM systems have evolved to integrate advanced features such as biometrics, behavioral analytics, and artificial intelligence (AI), rendering them well-suited to the evolving security landscape. For instance, according to iProov, in the aftermath of the pandemic, there has been a massive 704% increase in attacks targeting remote identity verification systems in 2023 alone. Leveraging advanced biometric technologies such as facial recognition, voice recognition, and behavioral biometrics, can guarantee the uniqueness and non-transference of identities, thus mitigating the risk of theft or cloning. Furthermore, by analyzing keystroke dynamics or mouse-use characteristics, organizations can get a more precise understanding of user behavior.
- Zero Trust Approach: Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) implements a “zero trust” approach, requiring explicit verification for every attempt access. This means no user, device, or network is inherently trusted. Moreover, through micro-segmentation, secure zones are created, isolating application workloads from one another. With limited east-west traffic between workloads, micro-segmentation minimizes the attack surface, prevents lateral threat movement in case of a breach, and strengthens the overall security.
- Implement a Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) framework: Once the question of what needs to be protected is addressed, a UEM framework can delineate the how through its management capabilities. A UEM can handle crucial device management tasks such as patch deployment, remote troubleshooting, application installation, and policy configurations. Integrating Mobile Threat Defense (MTD) into a UEM platform provides an enhanced level of protection by assessing each device’s risk through activity analysis, aiding administrators in pinpointing potential threats and implementing preventive measures.
Employees: The Human Firewall Against Cyberattacks
Amidst the evolving digital terrain, cybercriminals constantly devise novel tactics to exploit vulnerabilities. Consequently, conventional approaches to secure accounts fall short. While advanced security solutions like ZTNA and micro-segmentation form a critical line of defense, empowering employees through cybersecurity awareness is equally crucial.
According to an IBM study, nearly 95% of cybersecurity incidents stem from human mistakes. Therefore, organizations need to provide comprehensive cyber security awareness training on best practices, including recognizing phishing attempts, creating strong passwords, and identifying suspicious links or emails.
Additionally, businesses can also establish clear cybersecurity policies and procedures that outline expected employee conduct when using company devices and networks.
The imperative now lies in adopting resilient strategies and augmenting these measures by investing in resources such as identity, network and endpoint security in a well-balanced manner. Let’s not forget, online safety isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. As we observe Internet Safety Month, it serves as a poignant prompt to take stock of our online habits and avail ourselves of available resources to stay secure.
