Protecting Against Common Cyberthreats

Cybersecurity threats are always looming on the horizon. An intrusion by a malicious actor can cause major damages to your organization, both financially and to its reputation. From ransomware to trojans, the list of cyberthreats to your company is ever-growing. This article aims to provide an overview of some of the most common threats to look out for and strategies to protect yourself against them.

Get Started With GIGE’s Security Services By Messaging Us On Live Chat

Ransomware

Over the last 5 years, ransomware has become one of the most widespread strains of malware. In a ransomware attack, a malicious actor locks a victim’s sensitive data behind an encryption wall, scrambling it into a format that is unreadable to the affected computer. On some occasions, the ransomware attacker would also steal a copy of the locked data. Once the victim has been made aware of the intrusion, the attacker would establish contact and demand a ransom to be paid for the safe decryption of the data, often in the form of untraceable cryptocurrencies to a digital wallet.

Ransomware attacks rely on leveraging productivity stoppages to force its victims to pay the ransom fee. Every day that goes by without access to the data is another day where business functions and service delivery cannot be completed, leading to financial and client loss. An effective method of protecting yourself against this is through cloud backups of your most critical data. By keeping up-to-date copies of your important information, you can simply recover copies of the locked data in an attack, reducing the leverage that the attacker has on your organization’s productivity.

Phishing Attacks
A phishing attempt describes a type of cyberattack where a malicious actor sends communication to a victim, often through email, posing to be a legitimate source. The email would request the user to log into a fraudulent portal, download malicious files, or open an infected document.

If a victim is successfully fooled, the attacker may gain access to information such as the user’s credentials. In some cases, the infected file may download additional malware onto the victim’s computer such as data-stealing trojans or keyloggers.

Phishing attacks rely on a victim letting their guard down during their day-to-day activities. By posing as a legitimate source, it can be difficult to users that handle hundreds of emails a day to spot at-a-glance. As such, it is essential for any organization to ensure that its employees are familiar with the tell-tale signs of a phishing attack.

For example, it is important to always check the sender’s address for suspicious email domains. Additionally, spelling errors or non-solicited attachments may also be red flags for a phishing attack. By providing your team with the proper training to identify these signs, your organization can reduce the risk of falling victim to a phishing attack.

Don’t fall victim to cyberattack. GIGE Corporation has over 30 years of experience helping Canadian organizations manage its security. Call us at +1 888 366 4443 to get started today.