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3 ways of suffering a cyber-attack and how to avoid it

19 Sep 2022. 12:12
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  • SME maturity
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    Topic
    1. Ciberseguridad
    Scope to digitize
    1. Cybersecurity

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Understanding the main cyberthreats that can affect your company is key to being able to identify them quickly and avoid them. Here's how to do it!

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Maneras de evitar un ciberataque
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In a digitalized world where borders do not exist, cyber-attacks are becoming more and more frequent. Last year, INCIBE, Spain's National Cybersecurity Institute, handled more than 100,000 cybersecurity incidents, of which more than 90,000 involved citizens and companies.  Of these figures, 29.9% of the attacks corresponded to malware or malicious software, 28.6% to different variants of fraud and 18.9% to vulnerable systems.

 

Considering the consolidation of these trends in cybersecurity incidents in recent years, it is advisable for small and medium-sized companies to start investing in systems and protection measures. These attacks can compromise all types of information, endangering the operation of companies.

Below, we explain 3 ways to suffer a cyber-attack and what you can do to protect your company.

 

1. Social engineering attacks through e-mails

  • What do they consist of?

Usually, most security incidents affecting companies have two elements in common: email and fraudulent communications using various social engineering techniques.

Social engineering attacks are based on a set of techniques aimed at getting users to reveal private information that allows the attacker to take control of their device. Typically, this type of attack is based on deception and manipulation and is often used as a precursor to a malware attack.

 

  • How can it be spread?

As mentioned above, email is the main communication medium used to carry out a social engineering attack. This is because most SMEs and freelancers use this channel as the main communication tool in their work processes. For this reason, the most common way cybercriminals operate is by sending an urgent message, pretending to be a trusted entity. This message may contain an infected link or attachment or may request important data such as passwords.

 

  • How can you protect your business?
    • Be cautious and read the message carefully.
    • Detect grammatical errors in the message.
    • Check that the link matches the sender's address. In any case, it is advisable to type the link in the search engine instead of copying or clicking on it.
    • Check the sender of the message and make sure that it is a legitimate person or entity.
    • Do not download any attachment and scan it with your antivirus beforehand.
    • If you have detected fraud, do not reply and delete the message.

 

 

2. Attacks on the connection

 

  • What do they consist of?

Attacks on wireless connections are very common in both companies and individuals. To perform them, cybercriminals use different tools and software to infect or take control of the devices. Generally, this type of attack focuses on intercepting the exchange of information between users and the web service to monitor and steal private data such as bank details or passwords.

 

  • How can it be spread?

One of the most common practices to conduct this type of attack is through the creation of fake Wi-Fi networks with the same or very similar name to the original one. In this way, this network can go unnoticed to trick users into connecting.

 

  • How can you protect your business?

The best way to prevent this attack is to learn how to identify fake Wi-Fi networks as follows:

    • A common indicator is that there are two networks with the same or very similar names.
    • Another indication is that this type of network does not require a password to access or accepts any password.
    • Finally, it is not recommended to use this type of network when you are going to exchange sensitive information.

 

3. Malware attacks

 

  • What do they consist of?

Malware attacks use malicious programs that aim to infect devices by installing computer viruses. This attack is performed with the aim of carrying out harmful actions on systems and creating a privacy breach. An example of these actions would be to steal information, cause damage to the device, take control or obtain some economic benefit.

Depending on the way of infection, there are different types, although the most common are spyware and adware, which spy and steal sensitive information.

  • How can it be spread?

They are often installed together with other legitimate programs that are accepted without being aware of it and end up being installed on the computer.

 

  • How can you protect your business?
    • Avoid downloading applications from unofficial sites.
    • Pay attention to all the installation steps in order not to select any checkbox that could install another application or additional program.
    • Keep the protection tools duly updated and activated.

 

 

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