Cyber incidents can happen to any business, regardless of its size or industry. As the world becomes more digital, so do the risks of doing business online.
Here are some examples of common types of incidents to watch out for:
Fraudulent emails
An email or instant message that falsely claims to be from a legitimate organization is referred to as a phishing email or instant message. It is common for these messages to contain links to bogus websites that seek personal information, such as passwords or credit card numbers. Due to the familiar logos and language used by scammers to dupe their victims, phishing attacks can be difficult to detect.
A denial-of-service attack
During a denial-of-service attack, users cannot access a computer or other service. The attacker floods the victim’s computer or network with requests, causing it to crash or become unable to respond to legitimate traffic. Financial losses can result from such attacks, which can be exceedingly disruptive.
A ransomware attack
As a type of cyberattack, ransomware encrypts a victim’s data and demands a ransom in order to decrypt it. A key, which is a piece of information that controls the transformation, is used to convert readable data into an unreadable format. Encryption transforms readable data into an unreadable form. Only the same key can convert the encrypted data into readable data or decrypt it.
Individuals and organizations can suffer a great deal from these attacks, as they often cause data loss or financial loss.
Injections into SQL
Injection of SQL is a way for cybercriminals to execute malicious SQL code on a database. In simple terms, SQL code is a way for computers to communicate with each other. You can use it to find information or create a table, for example. This code is used by cybercriminals to manipulate, steal, and delete data.
A SQL injection attack can cause irreversible damage to any website that relies on a database.
Viruses
It can be viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, or any other type of malicious software designed to harm computer systems. Malware can steal personal information, corrupt files, and even disable computers.
According to a recent report, 43% of cyberattacks target small businesses.1 This is far from the truth.
Small businesses experience real cyber incidents
Here are two instances in which small businesses have been severely impacted by attacks, despite the media’s tendency to underreport them:2
A boutique hotel’s CEO realized they had been victimized by wire fraud after their bookkeeper began receiving insufficient funds notifications for regularly recurring bills.
An examination of the accounting records revealed a serious problem. In an email a few weeks prior, the CEO clicked on a link that appeared to be from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Cybercriminals obtained the CEO’s login information, allowing them access to sensitive personal and business information.
The company lost $1 million to a Chinese account due to this attack, which was never recovered.
1. The CEO of a government contracting firm discovered that their business data, including their military client database, was being sold on the dark web.
This data leak occurred after a senior employee downloaded a malicious email attachment believing it was from a trusted source.
As a result of the breach, the company’s operations were disrupted for several days as new licenses were purchased for security software and a new server was deployed.
Ensure success by collaborating
Your business is not immune to cyberthreats. An incident response plan and adequate security measures are essential to addressing incidents as they occur. If you need assistance in identifying the right technologies to prevent cyber incidents or in developing an incident response plan, consult with an IT service provider like us.
Reach out to us now if you have any questions.
