Cyber threats can have a wide range of consequences, from financial impact to catastrophic data loss and breach to disruption to business operations to damaging a company’s reputation. As such, cybersecurity threat management is a critical part of any business.
Malware (malicious software) is a common cyber threat that infects devices and systems, stealing or corrupting data, compromising operations or both. Examples include viruses, worms and Trojan horses that disguise themselves as legitimate software to gain access, steal information or install other malware. Ransomware is a particularly damaging type of cyberattack that encrypts the victim’s data, holding it hostage and demanding payment to decrypt it. Advanced persistent threats (APTs) are stealthy attacks aimed at specific targets to steal data or sabotage operations, often undetected for long periods of time.
For some cyberattackers, the motive is financial profit or personal revenge. Others seek data in any form including PII and credit card details or corporate data like intellectual property or source code. Still, some bad actors launch attacks for the sheer pleasure of the intellectual challenge and to show off their hacking skills. These so-called white-hat hackers are not to be confused with the criminals who launch malicious cyberattacks.
In addition to the financial implications of a data breach, businesses can face significant expenses associated with incident response, forensic analysis, regulatory fines, and damage control. The best way to protect your business from the most common cybersecurity threats is to be proactive. To do that, you should keep up with the latest threat intelligence and cybersecurity tools to spot vulnerabilities before attackers.