A Cybersecurity threat is the threat of a malicious act resulting in an adversary attempting to gain unauthorized access to a system. They are often launched by criminal or politically motivated groups looking to steal money, data, intellectual property, or simply to disrupt normal operations of their target.
Defining Common Threats
Below are four common cybersecurity threats you may have heard about recently. These threats are intertwined and typically used in tandem. For example, a ransomware attack may be deployed through a phish, which utilizes social engineering to make a staff person believe the email actually came from their boss.
- Phishing: a malicious hacker tries to trick the victim into believing they’re legitimate to get username and password credentials or other identifying information. If you think you’ve been phished, change your password. Implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA) on your systems is another great way to keep your system secure.
- Ransomware: A type of malicious software designed to block access to data or systems until a sum of money is paid, typically through bitcoin. It is typically delivered through phishing and malicious email attachments, beginning with a single workstation and spreading throughout the technology environment.
- Social engineering: The use of deception and manipulation to trick individuals into divulging confidential or personal information. Staff should always be vigilant in confirming the identity of individuals before divulging personal information and verify the authenticity of links or emails before clicking on them by checking the URL for odd characteristics.
- Malware/Spyware: Software that aims to collect a person or organization’s information, without their knowledge or consent.
What Can You Do?
Clean off your virtual desktop!
Files saved to your desktop are subject to different data protection practices and may not be backed up.
Need more ideas on how to be more cyber secure?
Stop. Think. Connect.