In a pandemic world where going out is not a possibility, we basically do everything through our PC and mobile devices.
We use our technology gadgets for communicating with friends through FaceTime, meeting with our workmates and boss through Zoom, and ordering whatever we need with our credit card.
Every aspect of our new life seems to be bound to these devices, provoking an unconscious dependency towards them.
Although technology has been a marvelous benefit to the current state of the world, there is a prominent negative consequence to consider. Unfortunately, cyberattacks are happening more and more often every day.
These virtual threats are designed to specifically get around traditional protection systems. It is up to us to increase the level of security of our industrial system.
What is a cybernetic attack?
It’s a criminal and malicious action that has the purpose of accessing private information, to appropriate it or blackmail its owner.
Cybernetic attacks are handled by informatic delinquents, hackers or criminal organizations. This has made identity theft and extorsion towards a company or a person more frequent each year.
Any entity that stores, handles or shares any type of data is at risk of being exposed to a cybernetic attack. Due to this dangerous possibility, many enterprises have proposed the following questions:
How can we strengthen the safety of our virtual infrastructure to avoid interruptions and inactivity periods? And how can we protect each person, process and technology that is part of the company?
Motives that lead to a cybernetic attack
We have summarized the most common causes of these sinister events, to understand better the main sources of cyberattacks.
Getting access points
Attackers access to a device’s data through access points, which are like doors into the private virtual world. Passwords and security codes are the locks to these doors, which difficult the attackers’ entry to the information.
Information hacking
Cyber attackers may use even the smallest data about the company to decodify the security system in a process known as hacking. That’s why it’s very convenient to have a higher-level protection mechanism.
Financial security damage
Having our company’s money in an online wallet that we consider safe and far away from risks is very important to avoid cyberattacks. Attackers may interfere with your monetary transactions if the system is to weak or easy to access.
Identity theft
One of the most common cyberattacks is through identity theft. The attackers pretend to be the company or person they hacked by sending e-mails or messages that facilitate the virtual outbreak.
Elimination or restrictions of personal account information
The attackers are interested in continuing to be connected to your account to achieve their purpose. This is why the access to your account might be blocked through the change or removal of data in cybernetic attacks.
Attacking the employment conditions and enterprise’s services
Theft or loss of the staff’s gadgets for work or of your own personal device is an easy root of access for cyber attackers. It’s a direct form of extracting private information.
How to improve the safety of your company against attacks
Now that you know what causes cybernetic attacks, it’s time to learn about how to prevent this from happening to your business.
Keep your software updated
It’s necessary to have the most recent version of the platform that you use to store the personal data. Since software updates offer a higher level of protection, it will be harder for attackers to have access to the information.
Malware detection
Your work devices must include a program that detects any type of unusual activity in order to prevent cybernetic attacks through opening malicious links or web sites.
Don’t use location functions
A relevant aspect to avoid cyberattacks is not activating the location under any circumstances so that external sources, such as hackers, don’t have information about the device’s whereabouts, hindering the attack.
Change the privacy settings
It is fundamental to constantly modify the access data of the accounts in which you store personal information. An often change of the password is key to avoid cyberattacks.
Use a Virtual Private Network
A VPN will hide the information of your computer from external sources, creating a safer connection.
Perform security copies
Having a security copy of every important file in an encrypted document will save your life in case they are threatened by cyber attackers.
