Practical Techie: Cyberattacks against business on the rise in LatAm
As cybercriminals become more audacious, a small business must counter the new danger by paying more attention to the different types of cyberattacks that bring loss and frustration to any entrepreneur.
Cyberattacks have gone up in Latin America by 24%, since last year, as compared with 2020, according to the Kaspersky digital security platform.
Such statistics should provoke companies to fine-tune their cybersecurity standards, on the fact that every year cybercrime evolves with unsuspecting creativity.
COMBAT — Business executives must learn the basics of fighting off such new forms of attacks on their operations, insist firms such as Logicalis, which does worldwide security services from Puerto Rico. Also to Latin America for cloud-based data management operations, including Internet of all Things. Logicalis claims it has culled its combat experience against cybercrime by monitoring and correlating numerous security incidents on commercial networks.
Francisco Solano, technology manager at Logicalis, points out that a first step is having a solid IT security strategy for the business by understanding the most frequent type of digital attacks and the mechanisms employed by the attackers.
“It must be remembered that cyberattacks generally have an economic objective, but there is data destruction and even political activism,” Solano said in a press release.
HACKS — One type of intrusion is using malware to break a network’s defenses through a link or attached file. The intruder obtains sensitive data from the firms’ hard disk, taking control of the system and accessing relevant components of the network. Solano also highlighted identity or data theft, cybercrime called “‘phishing.” There is also “spear phishing,” attacks specifically directed at large corporations, and “whale” attacks against senior executives or a specific group of officials inside the business firm.
Mentioned also is “pharming” which intrudes into a domain server cache to capture user credentials. And there is what Solano calls a “Man in the Middle” attack, which happens when a hacker intercepts the traffic connection between two users and gets in between them to steal and manipulate data.
BRIBING — One very frequent form of cyber aggression is termed “Ransomware.” The criminals will block a company’s operating system and force payment for a fix. Solano reminds us that this is not only hacking but also an extortion crime.
Once understood such forms of vulnerability, a business must move to reduce the constant threat and mitigate the risks of cyberattacks. Internal measures include frequent change of access codes and maintaining business software up to date. In other words, stay one step ahead of cyber pirates by being aware of the latest threats.
