How To Outsmart Your Boss On Cybersecurity Risk

Cybersecurity Risk Management - How to Manage Third-Party Risks

It's not a day without news of data breaches that expose hundreds of thousands or even millions of people's private information. These incidents usually originate from third-party vendors, like a vendor that experiences an outage in their system.

The process of assessing cyber risk begins with accurate information about your threat landscape. This information allows you to prioritize threats that need your immediate focus.

State-sponsored Attacs

Cyberattacks from nation-states can cause more damage than other attack. Nation-state attackers typically have large resources and advanced hacking skills that make them difficult to detect or to defend against. They can steal sensitive information and disrupt business processes. They can also cause more damage through targeting the supply chain of the business and inflicting harm on third suppliers.

This means that the average nation-state attack costs an estimated $1.6 million.  empyrean group  out of 10 organizations believe they've been the victims of a state-sponsored attack. As cyberespionage is growing in popularity among nations-state threat actors, it's more important than ever for companies to have solid cybersecurity practices in place.

Cyberattacks against states can take a variety of forms, from taking intellectual property, to ransomware or a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. They could be carried out by government agencies, members of a cybercriminal organization which is affiliated with or contracted by an entity of the state, freelancers who are employed for a particular nationalist project or even criminal hackers who attack the public in general.

Stuxnet was an innovative cyberattacks tool. It allowed states to weaponize malware against their enemies. Since then, cyberattacks have been used by states to achieve political, military and economic goals.

In recent years there has been a rise in the sophistication and number of attacks backed by government. For example, the Russian government-sponsored group Sandworm has been targeting businesses and consumers with DDoS attacks and ransomware. This is different from traditional crime syndicates, which are motivated by financial gain. They tend to target both consumers and businesses.

In the end, responding to threats from a nation-state actor requires extensive coordination with multiple government agencies. This is quite different from "your grandfather's cyberattack," where a business might submit an Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Report to the FBI, but would not routinely need to engage in significant coordination with the FBI as part of its incident response. In addition to the greater degree of coordination responding to a nation state attack also requires coordination with foreign governments, which can be particularly challenging and time-consuming.

Smart Devices

As more devices become connected to the Internet, cyber attacks are becoming more frequent. This increased attack surface can cause security issues for consumers and businesses alike. For example, hackers can use smart devices to steal data, or even compromise networks. This is particularly true when these devices aren't properly secured and protected.

Smart devices are particularly attractive to hackers because they can be used to gain an abundance of information about businesses or individuals. Voice-controlled assistants like Alexa and Google Home, for example can gather a large amount about their users based on the commands they receive. They also gather details about the home of users, their layouts as well as other personal details. Additionally  cloudflare alternative  are frequently used as an interface to other types of IoT devices, like smart lights, security cameras and refrigerators.

Hackers can cause severe harm to businesses and people by gaining access to these devices. They could use them to commit a range of crimes, including fraud or identity theft. Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks and malicious software attacks. They also have the ability to hack into vehicles to disguise GPS location or disable safety features and even cause physical injuries to passengers and drivers.

Although it is impossible to stop users from connecting their smart devices but there are steps that can be taken to limit the harm they cause. Users can, for example change the default factory passwords on their devices to stop attackers from being able to find them easily. They can also turn on two-factor authentication. It is also important to update the firmware of routers and IoT devices regularly. Additionally, using local storage instead of cloud can minimize the risk of an attack while transferring or storing data to and from these devices.

It is still necessary to conduct studies to better understand the digital harms and the best ways to reduce them. Studies should focus on identifying technology solutions to help reduce the harms caused by IoT. They should also look into other possible harms related to with cyberstalking and exacerbated power asymmetries between household members.

Human Error

Human error is a frequent factor that causes cyberattacks and data breaches. This can be anything from downloading malware to leaving a network vulnerable to attack. By creating and enforcing strict security measures, many of these blunders can be prevented. A malicious attachment could be clicked by an employee in an email containing phishing messages or a storage configuration issue could expose sensitive information.

Additionally, a user could disable a security feature in their system without noticing that they're doing it. This is a common mistake that leaves software vulnerable to attacks from ransomware and malware. IBM claims that human error is the most significant reason behind security incidents. This is why it's important to understand the types of mistakes that could cause a cybersecurity breach and take steps to mitigate the risk.

Cyberattacks can be triggered for a variety of reasons, including hacking, financial fraud or to steal personal data and disrupt the critical infrastructure or vital services of an an organization or government. State-sponsored actors, vendors, or hacker groups are often the perpetrators.

The threat landscape is constantly evolving and complex. As a result, organisations must constantly review their risk profile and reassess their protection strategies to ensure they're up to current with the most recent threats. The good news is that the most advanced technologies can help reduce the overall risk of a cyberattack and enhance the security of an organization.

empyrean group  to keep in mind that no technology can protect an organization from every possible threat. This is the reason it's essential to develop an effective cybersecurity plan that takes into account the different layers of risk within an organization's network ecosystem. It is also important to conduct regular risk assessments instead of relying on only point-in-time assessments that are often inaccurate or missed. A thorough assessment of a company's security risks will allow for more effective mitigation of those risks and will help ensure the compliance of industry standards. This will help prevent costly data breaches as well as other incidents that could adversely impact the business's operations, finances and reputation. A successful strategy for cybersecurity should include the following components:

Third-Party Vendors

Every business depends on third-party vendors that is, companies outside the company which offer products, services and/or software. These vendors typically have access to sensitive information such as client data, financials or network resources. If they're not secured, their vulnerability is a gateway into the original business' system. This is why cybersecurity risk management teams have begun to go to great lengths to ensure that the risks of third parties are vetted and managed.

This risk is increasing as cloud computing and remote working become more common. In fact, a recent survey by security analytics firm BlueVoyant found that 97% of the companies they surveyed were negatively impacted by supply chain vulnerabilities. This means that any disruption to a vendor, even if it's a small portion of the supply chain - could cause an effect that could threaten the whole operation of the business.

Many companies have developed a process to onboard new third-party suppliers and require that they sign service level agreements that define the standards they will be accountable to in their relationship with the organisation. A sound risk assessment should also provide documentation on how the vendor's weaknesses are analyzed and then followed up on and rectified in a timely manner.

Another method to safeguard your business against third-party risk is by implementing a privileged access management solution that requires two-factor authentication in order to gain access into the system. This prevents attackers gaining access to your network by stealing credentials of employees.

Also, ensure that your third-party vendors are using the most recent versions of their software. This ensures that they haven't created security flaws that were not intended in their source code. Many times, these flaws are not discovered and could be used as a way to launch other high-profile attacks.

Ultimately, third-party risk is a constant risk to any company. While the strategies mentioned above can help mitigate some of these risks, the best method to ensure that your risk from third parties is reduced is to conduct continuous monitoring. This is the only way to fully understand the security posture of your third party and to quickly identify potential risks.