The past 2 years have been a period of unprecedented change. With these changes have come new and unforeseen challenges. For instance, while there may have been some great strides in work practices, with improved flexibility and remote working policies, as a consequence of remote and hybrid work models, the surface area for cybersecurity attacks has also increased. Businesses of all sizes have been impacted.
Another critical factor that has impacted cybersecurity is the inaccessibility of traditional IT teams. To make matters worse, employees have resorted to resolve security concerns and maintain their work equipment on their own. Hackers have been able to exploit cybersecurity flaws as a result of the aforementioned factors. According to Bloomberg, victims paid more than $406 million in cryptocurrencies to attackers last year, and the amount is expected to be similar this year. It is therefore imperative to leverage an effective cyber-intelligence strategy. Based on insights from Entrepreneur, let’s delve deeper into what such a strategy entails.
Employee and partner engagement
Data is collected by businesses that focus on successful attacks, potential cybersecurity threats, and attempts in order to enhance their situational awareness and response to all types of cybersecurity threats, such as malware, ransomware, insider exploits, espionage, hacktivism, cybercrime, and other emerging threats. This data is integral to their cyber threat intelligence strategy. Undoubtedly, this is a task that requires a lot of groundwork.
The reality of cybercrime is that most attacks boil down to exploiting human behaviour in what is known as social engineering. It is a far cry from some hacker wearing a dark hoodie and endeavouring to break through software defences. Hacking attempts are usually made through phishing emails to phoney customer care calls. For a business, the most important thing is to make sure that everybody with access to the company’s computer systems are fully educated in recognising, recording, escalating, and mitigating cybersecurity risks. This may be accomplished by providing personnel with training and a thorough manual guideline that charts out what to do in each given circumstance. According to a Ponemon Institute research from 2020, 68 percent of companies suffered one or more endpoint assaults in the preceding 12 months that effectively compromised data and/or their IT infrastructure. According to the same survey, 68 percent of IT experts believe the frequency of endpoint assaults has grown over the previous year.
Data analysis and scrutiny
A seemingly harmless oversight may often be a prelude to a large-scale cyberattack, which might result in your organisation being held for ransom. It may even be something as simple as an employee checking and then deleting a suspicious email and attachment. To ensure that you’re covering all of your bases, your workers’ manuals and training should require that they report any abnormalities they observe, providing you with a complete picture so you can take the required corrective action.
Apart from obtaining information from your employees, it’s also critical to tap into other sources of data, such as government and private-sector cybersecurity databases. When choosing a cybersecurity vendor, conduct your research. Make sure the vendor can help you recover from any losses such as in a ransomware attack. Consider leveraging technologies like AI in your cybersecurity efforts to increase vigilance.
Greater industry collaboration
In most sectors of the economy, there are now industry ISACs (Information Sharing and Analysis Centers) where the officials in charge of their business’ cybersecurity communicate and share information and methods to minimise common risks. As evidenced by “malware supermarkets” and lessons on black hat forums, criminals collaborate as well. When countering a threat, cybersecurity professionals who share techniques will be able to draw on a common knowledge pool as needed, improving their chances of success.
Consider leading the charge to create one if your firm is in an industry or area where there aren’t been any active cyber intelligence sharing forums. Engage with representatives from other firms and agree on parameters for information sharing that will benefit everyone without jeopardising private information. The benefits for all participants will justify the effort. Cybersecurity requires a holistic industry-wide approach, owing to the precipitous nature of technologies like 5G and IoT among others.
The road ahead
With changing operating models and technology requirements, the cybersecurity challenges are manifold. An industry-wide approach would help establish consolidated standards for better cybersecurity. Finally, a proactive approach towards cybersecurity is the need of the hour to build cybersecurity hygiene and awareness.
– Lionel Alva
