Data has grown in value over time, and to maintain business operations, more and more cyber security professionals, including analysts and engineers, are being hired. Today, we’ll talk about the vulnerabilities that these experts must be aware of and handle as part of their work.
Successful vulnerability management enhances the efficiency of security solutions and limits the damage caused by successful attacks. Consequently, companies in all industries require a well-established vulnerability management strategy. However, let’s first define vulnerability before we dissect the many cyber security flaws that Spin can help you with.
What Is Vulnerability in Cyber Security?
Vulnerability in cyber security is any flaw in an organization’s internal controls, system processes, or information systems. According to Expert Insights, cybercriminals may target these vulnerabilities and exploit them through points of weakness.
Without authorization, these hackers can access the systems and seriously compromise data privacy. Because network flaws could result in a total compromise of an organization’s systems, it is essential to regularly check for cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
Common Vulnerabilities
The most common security flaws usually arise from routine behavior. With the appropriate steps in place, they can be avoided.
Weak Passwords
One of the simplest ways to give cybercriminals access to your company is by using weak passwords. People all too often use passwords that are simple to decode, such as their name or the word “password.”
As an alternative, they might use the same password for numerous accounts. This might include their business email accounts and personal accounts like social media. They become an easy target for hackers as a result, compromising the sensitive information of their company.
Hardware Issues
Inadequate hardware as well as a decline in the quality and performance of the product are examples of hardware weaknesses. This can lead to unauthorized access and attacks directly through the hardware.
A lot of organizations neglect to update their systems. Avast discovered that about 55% of the software that is installed on PCs is an older version of the software.
Why is this a problem? Software defects and incompatibility problems can result from poor maintenance. You can also lose out on important security updates.
Patches for known vulnerabilities are provided through these security updates. When you don’t apply the updates, you leave yourself vulnerable to cybercriminals who are looking for those vulnerabilities.
Old Malware
Malware is a threat, but older malware also poses a vulnerability because of the effects it might have after infecting a computer. Once a system is compromised, malware can use the privileges of the infected machine, and other common vulnerabilities to build backdoors for fresh intrusions or act as a beacon to access other computers.
This is the secret to a lot of the ransomware attacks that have recently targeted businesses, like the Conti ransomware. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the attack targeted computers that had already been infected with the TrickBot malware. Therefore, if outdated malware isn’t found and removed, it could open a gateway for new threat actors to use.
Unawareness of Cybersecurity
The people that use your IT systems are among the most common sources of vulnerabilities.
As an example, a lack of awareness of the risks to the organization’s overall cybersecurity directly contributes to the use of weak passwords, the absence of strong authentication mechanisms, and a lack of information about phishing and other social engineering attacks. Therefore, it is always important to train employees to be security conscious.
Unpatched Software
A vulnerability that could have terrible consequences involves not applying software patches or using the software after it has reached the end of its planned service life. The good news is that regular patching can quickly stop these zero-day exploits.
Companies become vulnerable to all upcoming zero-day exploits and to all known exploits that hadn’t been fixed by the time of the last patch. This can also happen when they use software that hasn’t been maintained and updated on a regular basis.
Absence of Encryption Measures
Sensitive data can leak if it is not encrypted before being entered into an IT system via the end user’s device.
As an example, SQL injections are online attacks that use search engines and other client-side queries to inject malicious code into databases and potentially sensitive information in order to access, extract, edit, or delete it.
By using a more general code injection technique, criminals may be able to steal data or spread malicious software if there are no protections against this attack.
Email Attacks
Email is one of the most popular techniques used in cybersecurity attacks. Every day, most of us receive dozens of emails, many of which come from lists we didn’t necessarily sign up for. Additionally, hackers have become very skilled at mimicking sources that we would trust to send us genuine emails.
Sometimes, the moment you open the email, the virus that was embedded there becomes vulnerable on your computer. In other instances, the email can deceive you into downloading something or clicking on a link.
Essentially, the only way to tell that these emails are not legitimate is to look at the sending email itself; it may be gibberish mumbo jumbo made up of random digits and letters or a very similar version of your company’s email address, like “.net” in place of “.com.”
Fake Updates
Some viruses infiltrate your computer by pretending to be an update for an application you already have running, much like phishing. You might download the “update” to install on your computer without giving it a second thought. Once the file has been downloaded, the virus can access every part of your device.
Learn about the Most Serious Cyber Threats
Your company can become a target of a variety of cyber threats. Avoiding threats like form jacking, DDOS attacks, phishing, and ransomware is important. Ensure that everyone in your company is aware of the warning signs of these attacks, and make sure that all your updates are trustworthy and security-focused. Take a look at Spin if you’re looking for maximum SaaS security!
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