Cyber threats have become the norm, and that’s one reason why every business must be ready to deal with them. In addition, the growth in government regulations that mandate the safeguarding of medical and financial information mean that security is more important than ever. The effect of data loss on a business’s reputation, as well as the hefty price tag, makes protection from these threats a priority. All of this explains why both small and large businesses must take cybersecurity seriously. Here are 4 common cyber security threats businesses face and what can be done about them.

Phishing

Phishing is where a criminal tries to gain access to your network via social engineering. They may send you a link posing as a friend or customer, encouraging you to click on it. This will cause malware to download onto your network. In other cases, it will take you to a fake site that asks you to enter specific information like social media passwords, network login credentials or credit card numbers. 

This differs from password attacks or brute force attacks, where an automated system tries a variety of passwords to try to enter the network. Training employees to recognize these types of threats is one solution, since people tend to be the weakest link. However, it can happen when websites are infected themselves.

Password Attacks

Password attacks use an automated system to try to gain access to your network. This could be done with rainbow tables or a dictionary attack list. You can prevent this type of attack from working by having best practices for passwords with your users. You should also have service and admin account credentials changed regularly. Monitor for repeated failed password entries and deal with the issue as quickly as possible.

Malware

Malware is short for malicious software and is any type of software designed to gain access to a system and/or damage it without the access of the owner. It can include but is not limited to spyware, viruses, worms and keystroke loggers. One solution is setting up a firewall and monitoring it. An agency like FraudWatch International provides cyber security protection against malware by attacking it at the source and disabling credential drop sites and command and control servers, rendering the malware inoperable.

Distributed Denial of Service Attacks

A distributed denial of service attack or DDOS is an attack intended to flood a network device, server or website with messages, packets or connection requests. This could cause the target to slow down or crash, rendering it unavailable to users. You can work with security companies that monitor for such attacks and alert network administrators with details about the source and specific advice for preventing the DDOS from being successful. While businesses are generally the target of DDOS attacks, any computer could be targeted with malware that lets it be used to execute a DDOS attack.

Cybersecurity is an ongoing threat to businesses and one that cannot be taken lightly no matter the size of your enterprise. So, make sure that you take proactive steps to keep your employees and corporate data safe.