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Cybersecurity: Its Significance And Top Trends

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Cybersecurity: Its Significance And Top Trends ATMECS – Content Team Cybercrime had cost the world $6 trillion in 2021. The costs are expected to increase up to $10.5 trillion by 2025. Investing in cybersecurity is the best course of action to protect against or deter criminal activities like hacking, unauthorized access, and attacks on data centers or computerized systems. It helps safeguard connected systems like software, hardware, and data from multiple threats and defends computers, mobile devices, servers, networks, and other electronic devices from malicious attacks. The best cybersecurity strategies provide an efficient security posture against cyber threats and malicious attacks that aim to access, change, destroy, delete, or extort systems and sensitive data. Why is cybersecurity critical? Cybersecurity is vital to minimize the risk of cyberattacks, and secure data and systems. The proliferation of digital technology, increased dependence on the internet and smart devices, complex global supply chains, and critical digital economy data have led to an increased probability of cyberattacks. Individuals, organizations, governments, educational institutions, etc., are all at risk of data breaches and cyberattacks. No one is immune to the cyber threats of today. Studies suggest that global cybercrime costs will reportedly rise by almost 15% annually over the next four years. If you are not convinced about the importance of cybersecurity in curbing these threats, the following points will help you understand its significance.  Increased exposure of organizations to attacks Cybercriminals try to access organizational data through employees, and the increased use of internet services and IoT devices worsens the problem. The criminals hack into the system by sending fraudulent messages and emails. Organizations with minimal or less than optimal security protocols cannot tackle such security threats. Organizations have to beat such threats 100% of the time while cybercriminals need to win only once to do irreparable damage. This is the reason why cybersecurity is critical in proactively preventing theft, hacking, fraudulent emails, viruses etc., before it happens. Increased cybersecurity threats to individuals Hackers may steal an individual’s personal information and sell it in unlegislated or unregulated markets like the dark web for profit. All data on personal mobile phones, computers, or other digital platforms is no longer safe. Individuals with high-profile identities or at-risk segments like senior citizens are the most vulnerable. Phishing, where the attacker sends fraudulent messages that appear to come from a recognized source, is one of the most frequent types of cyberthreats. Phishing algorithms run behind the scenes stealing login information and sensitive data and in many cases, installing malware on the devices. If you see a lot of emails in your inbox’s spam folder, chances are you received a phishing email. Expensive data breach costs Organizations cannot afford data breaches. Even the smallest data breach can amount to exponential losses due to litigation costs. Data breaches on average cost  $3.62 million, leading many small organizations to go out of business. According to recent research, the cost of breaches has increased quite a bit, and new vulnerabilities have prompted hackers to launch automated attacks on systems.  Modern day hacking Hacking and data breaches threaten network systems and make them vulnerable. Present-day cybercriminals range from privately funded individuals to activist outfits, from anarchists to well trained state sponsored actors. The scope of cyberattacks have also widened to include:  Information systems and network infiltration Password sniffing Website defacement Breach of access Instant messaging abuse Web browser exploitation Intellectual Property (IP) theft Unauthorized access to systems Increasing vulnerabilities Malicious actors take advantage of everyone – from business organizations and professionals to educational and health institutions. Vulnerabilities are prevalent everywhere, and every system is facing a new security threat. Cybersecurity professionals are constantly playing catch-up to mitigate the risks related to data and system security. Which are the top cybersecurity trends? The year 2022 is all about digital business processes and hybrid work, making it difficult for cybersecurity teams to ensure secured individual or organizational networks. The hybrid working environment has highlighted the need for security monitoring to prevent attacks on cyber-physical systems. Identity threat detection and response will be on top of the list for security leaders across organizations that engage multiple vendors for their IT needs. Data suggests 45% of organizations will experience attacks on software supply chains by 2025, three times as much as 2021. Vendor consolidation leading to a single platform for multiple security needs will cause disruption in the cybersecurity market but offer respite to consumers through innovative pricing and licensing models. One of the most talked about trends is the emergence of the cybersecurity mesh. A cybersecurity mesh is a conceptual approach to a security architecture that helps distributed enterprises integrate security into their assets. It is expected to reduce the financial impact of security incidents by 90% by 2024. Many organizations still don’t have a dedicated Chief Information Security Officer. It is expected that the CISO role will gain significant traction and the office of CISO will emulate both a decentralized and centralized model for greater agility and responsiveness. It is time to pay close attention to the aforementioned trends and understand the risks/benefits associated with cybersecurity. Organizations and individuals investing in development of best practices with respect to data and information security will not only insulate themselves from today’s cyber threats but also lay the foundation for sustainable growth in the future. How can ATMECS help? ATMECS Cybersecurity Practice helps our clients protect themselves against today’s cyberthreats with both tactical and strategic solution offerings. Our practice follows a metrics-driven approach to providing resilient and reliable security services and preventing cyber threats. We understand business risks, evolve mitigation measures for data threats and attacks, and enable security posturing to ensure an efficient working system. We provide scalable services that handle all our clients’ cybersecurity needs. References 8 Huge Cybersecurity Trends (2022) – Link Alarming Cyber Statistics For Mid-Year 2022 That You Need To Know – Link 7 Top Trends in Cybersecurity for 2022 – Link TOP TRENDS IN CYBERSECURITY 2022 – Link DEFENDING THE EXPANDING ATTACK SURFACE

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Understanding the Implications of Business Email Compromise Scams

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Understanding the Implications of Business Email Compromise Scams Prabhakaran Parameswaran – Cybersecurity Services Team Enterprises and individuals alike have the potential to fall victim to more than 40 types of frauds. Out of these, frauds that take place when the attacker opts for Business Email Compromise (BEC) methods also pose a significant threat. As per the cybercrime reports compiled by the FBI, BEC scams account for over $1.8 billion cumulative loss globally. BEC attacks are said to be around 64 times more devastating than other cybercrimes due to the losses it incurs. What is a Business Email Compromise scam? A Business Email Compromise belongs to the realm of cybercrime. An attacker is capable of attacking enterprises or corporate email accounts. After doing so, the attacker will move to defraud the company as a whole or individual employee. The reason for their ability to carry out this fraud is that the attacker gains access to specific sensitive information. Mainstream media has also referred to this type of attack as the “man-in-the-mail” attack or the “man-in-the-middle” attack. The reason for this is that these attacks go undetected since the party on the receiving end thinks that they are capable of sending confidential emails to another party. However, the attacker will have gained access to all these emails. Who do BEC attackers target? These scams are directed towards companies the majority of the time. There are five ways this scam can take place: Compromising the account The hacker will gain access to a specific employee’s account and, therefore, use their identity to infiltrate the databases holding sensitive information. Fake invoice The hacker will look to target foreign suppliers in this case. The basis of this attack requires the hacker to act as a supplier then request payments to their account. Impersonation of an attorney Another common tactic is taking the identity of a legal representative. Once the hacker does so, they approach the employees for a fund transfer. Data theft The HR department falls victim to this kind of threat. The hacker will attain access to personal information about employees from the records. The employees are usually CEOs or higher-ups working in management. CEO fraud After the hacker is capable of obtaining access to CEO information, they are capable of assuming the identity of the CEO. Now, these individuals can send out fraudulent emails to the finance department. Steps that attackers utilise One of the best approaches to management security breaches involves tracing the steps of the attacker. This will not only help to examine the existing security measures but also predict potential future steps that the hacker might make. When it comes to BEC attacks, the attack takes place in the steps below: Searching for a target The hacker will first search for an enterprise and then a suitable employee working in the said enterprise. The hacker will attack based on one of the above methods. Hackers use various platforms like LinkedIn or company websites to search for any sort of contact information. Sending out emails The attacker will now send out emails to the targeted employees’ email account. The emails will contain malware and will be known as phishing emails. The links in this email will redirect the employee towards a fake Outlook-365 login webpage. This webpage is created by the attacker and looks exactly like an authentic page. Gathering information Once the attacker plugs in their login credentials in the dummy website, the attacker can then copy down the email address and password of the employee. The next step would be to create a fake domain that resembles the company. In this domain, the hacker will enter the victim’s email address and surpass the web filters. Now the attacker gains access to the email account, and the attacker will look to alter the real domain in a way that will forward all emails from the real account to the attacker. The attacker can now gather information regarding the billing or invoices and wire transfers. Conduct social engineering The hacker is essentially looking for emails that contain information about any kind of payment that took place between the company and the employee. These emails will be doctored so that the attacker can request payments using this email. The altered email will be sent along with the same mail chain to avoid suspicion. The money that is transferred by the employer will now reach the attacker’s account. Collect financial reward Now the attacker can finally profit off the scam. However, in the majority of these cases, the payments that take place do not undergo verification since the employer sees the same mail chain and thinks nothing of it. How can a security team detect a BEC attack? Detecting a security breach or, better yet, a phishing email is a best-case scenario in this case. Implementing a proper security policy should be at the forefront of a security team’s efforts. A typical detection process against BEC attacks should include a series of scanning facilities or software that carries out the following: Monitoring: These facilities will provide visibility into the overall activity of the user depending on what email platform they use. This is especially useful for enterprises that deploy on a cloud. Alerts: The software or technology that is used should send out alerts to the security team when there is a login detected. In addition to this, the software can send alerts when there is an alteration in the browser in which the login took place. Audits: Regular audits will ensure that all phishing emails are removed from the inbox. The audits can be automated or manual as well. Redirects and Forwards: Emails can also be checked safely to see if the links are redirecting users to external domains. This will secure all the possible channels that hackers may utilize. Preventive measures that security teams can implement The detection of a BEC scam is only one aspect of the cybersecurity policy that enterprises can implement. In addition to this, there should

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