Cyberattacks in 2022: What Every Business Needs To Know

In 2020, enough business emails and accounts were compromised to cost a staggering 1.8 billion dollars in losses to victims. A simple click of an email exposed numerous companies to ransomware and cyberattacks. Business email compromise and email account compromise only paints a small portion of the overall picture. Through a combination of data breaches, identity theft, investment fraud and more, 2020 reported over 13 billion dollars in victim losses.

For many large businesses, a cyberattack with this kind of cost has serious ramifications. Funds that were budgeted for expansion or hiring, now have to be used to put out a massive fire. For small or medium sized businesses, these kinds of costs cannot be shouldered, forcing many of them to close their doors.

In 2022, cyberattacks have only gotten more sophisticated, and with so many attacks going unreported, it remains more crucial than ever to be vigilant and protect your business from outside attackers.

At C3 Tech, the cybersecurity of our clients is taken very seriously. It’s too often that businesses shutdown, or are forced to put plans on hold because of malicious attacks and ransomware payments. Fortunately, there are ways that a business can protect itself from cyberattacks, and they aren’t too difficult. With some focus, culture training, and understanding, a business can be well prepared and protected against cyberattacks and any outside threats.

Let’s review the most common types of cyberattacks and the best ways to protect a business against cyber threats.

Malware

Malware is a generalized term that encompasses attacks from spyware, viruses, and worms. This type of attack will expose a vulnerability to a network, gaining access and wreaking havoc. The most common point of entry to this day remains; clicking a suspicious email. Ransomware falls under this category, where the victim is required to pay or barter to get the password to their own information.

Phishing

Phishing emails are so common, most people have encountered them. It starts by sending mass amounts of emails that appear to be from reputable sources. They may have a slight misspell, or error in the name, but it looks very convincing. Once the recipient clicks on it, a script or file can compromise the user, gaining financial info, personal information and more.

MitM Attack

A Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attack is when an attacker is able to insert themselves between a two party transaction. Typically, this occurs over an unsecured WiFi network and can be incredibly challenging to detect. Any activity done on a device, can be viewed by the Man-in-the-Middle.

DoS Attack

It is very possible to overload a network with so much traffic and data, that the network is unable to handle any real traffic, causing it to crash. These types of attacks are also known as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and can happen to any domain or hosted site.

SQL Injection

An attacker can gain access to protected information on a server by tricking it into obeying new code. In an SQL Injection, the attacker uses a query field, fills it with instructional code, and exposes a network vulnerability to gain all kinds of information that should not be displayed to the user, including database information, passwords and more.

Zero-day Exploit

When a network vulnerability is announced, oftentimes companies are slow to move on updates. A zero-day exploit occurs when a hacker uses a well known and publicized security issue to gain access to systems that have yet to update and keep themselves protected.

Password Attack

The keys to the kingdom, passwords are everything. These days coming up with a new password is a frustrating endeavor, but hackers love guessing them. Brute-Force-Attacks are the most common form of guessing, where a program runs through as many combinations of characters, as fast as possible, to ‘guess’ a password and gain access. Using common words, attackers are also able to gain access to many accounts and systems.

Cross-site Scripting

In a cross-site script, a user will receive an email or request to click a link. When they do, they will be sent to the legitimate website, however, at the same time a script will be executed that forfeits and distributes all the users personal information to the hacker.

Rootkits

In a rootkit, the malicious program exists inside legitimate software. This can be incredibly difficult to detect, and once the legitimate software is installed, the malicious program is also installed. There, it can lay dormant, waiting for the right trigger to unleash its viral fury. Email attachments and unsecure websites can also carry Rootkits.

IoT Attack

There is an unseen security breach elephant in the room, and nobody really knows how to address it. As our world continues to grow and become deeper and more connected, network glitches, back-door problems, and security breaches become easier and easier to find. The amount of attention that is put on security is minimal, and as a result, as our world of technology grows, the problem grows.

Guard Your Business

Practicing secure coding techniques, keeping software and hardware up to date, proper employee awareness training, and a concerted eye on security, are some of the best ways a business can mitigate cyber security attacks and network data breaches.

C3 Tech has built their reputation on being one of the top cyber security companies in Orange County. Since 1994 C3 Tech has created custom and tailored solutions for businesses looking for help with securing a network, remote or local. Additionally, help with copiers, multifunction printers, monitoring, cyber security training, remote server, file access, and everything else a business and its team needs to operate; all with the goal of never sacrificing productivity or security.

Contact C3 Tech today to learn more about how your business can protect itself from cyberattacks, today and tomorrow.