A cyber threat is any attempt to gain unauthorized access to your systems, data or information. Successful attacks can carry huge costs ranging from financial implications and business disruption to damage to your reputation. In the case of critical infrastructure, such as power plants and hospitals, a cybersecurity threat can be life-threatening.
Typical cyberattacks occur for one of three reasons: Coercion: Threat actors may use extortion tactics to gain unauthorized access and manipulate data, with the aim of stealing money or halting system operations. This type of attack can be mitigated by using multiple layers of security to ensure that data cannot be accessed by those who shouldn’t have it.
Spying and Espionage: Increasingly, cyberattacks are carried out by nation-state entities with significant resources, advanced capabilities and long-term objectives that align with their national military or economic strategy. Strengthening national cybersecurity policies and enhancing international cooperation can help address this type of threat.
Disruption and Sabotage: In addition to stealing sensitive data, some attackers seek to disrupt and bring services to a halt, whether through distributed denial-of-service attacks or by attacking supply chains to wreak havoc. This is often done for political or ideological reasons, with hacktivist groups like Anonymous targeting organizations whose policies they oppose.
The cybersecurity landscape is constantly changing and expanding, with thousands of new vulnerabilities discovered every year. With the rise of AI technologies, operational technology (OT), IoT devices and the cloud, bad actors have an ever-growing attack surface to target. It is important to protect your business with a layered approach that includes security software updates, robust end-user education to guard against phishing and continuous monitoring of all network activity.