Introduction
It’s true what they say: The best offense is a good defense. While an expansive cybersecurity platform and intelligent team are part of that, they can only do so much to safeguard the business from hackers and fight off breaches as they come. Ultimately, education is the best prevention. Teaching employees at every level of the organization how to recognize and react to threats will be the most effective way to avoid attempted break-ins.
Learn the most common kinds of cyberattacks affecting businesses today, and you’ll be able to recognize attempted malicious activity before it gets in and starts wreaking havoc.
Keylogging
Hackers will always prefer you to do the hard work for them. With keylogging, it’s easy for them. This type of malicious entry refers to tracking users’ keystrokes as they type in their information. They use a program to monitor what you type, the websites you visit and everything else you do on the computer. Once the spyware is installed, it records all your keystrokes and sends it back to the cybercriminal to read.
This is enormously useful to hackers. They don’t have to use social engineering tactics to get your sensitive information; you give it all away without ever realizing it, just by using your computer like normal.
Not just your passwords are at risk, either: Keyloggers can lift financial information, PINs and credit card numbers, among other things, too.
Information Theft
Trojan horses don’t always log your keystrokes, although that’s a form of info theft often used by cybercriminals. Other programs designed to gather valuable data can be installed on your system without proper cybersecurity precautions and this can lead to severe damages to your business’s finances, reputation and files.
Remote Access Trojans
RATs are a very common tool for criminals trying to breach the network. When RATs get installed on the computer, they give hackers control over the system from another location. In movies, hackers are always breaking into offices late at night to steal files and get out before the cops are called. Modern criminal activity looks a little different these days. Now they can upload RATs to the system and take over from the comfort of their own computer.
Let’s take a moment to consider how RATs get into the system in the first place. If cybercriminals don’t have to be onsite to install these programs, how do they do it? The answer often lies in social engineering. This refers to a number of tactics that manipulate people’s emotions to get them to let down their defenses. You know those banners on some websites, insisting you’re the millionth visitor so you win a free iPad? Cybercriminals have evolved more clever ways to convince users to download the RATs themselves.
Banker
Also commonly referred to as a “banking Trojan,” this refers to a particular kind that infiltrates banking cyber systems to steal financial information. They might spoof a webpage that appears identical to the login screen you’re used to seeing from your bank. When you enter in your credentials, the criminal then has all they need to access your finances. Bankers are a dangerous malware that can collect information, transfer money and seriously harm the business.
Loader
Loaders are a basic remote access Trojan. They’re the first stage of a cyberattack; the program that actually sets your business up for damage and theft. It loads executable files onto the machine it intends to infect, hence the name.
Being the starter program makes these no less dangerous. Consider Wslink, a technologically advanced loader recently discovered just last month. This particular program has been discovered targeting internationally, and executes directly into the memory of the machine. Cybercriminals are getting savvier every day as they find new ways to target unsecured machines.
Conclusion
The five kinds of malware listed above are currently the biggest threat to businesses like yours. Fortunately, education is the best prevention. Learning how to recognize attempted social engineering techniques can go a long way towards stopping these threats from ever entering the network. Beware of email attachments from senders outside of your network, mobile links and other suspicious behavior that might be a threat. Phishing attempts can come from anywhere online, and they’re designed to trap you.
Malware threats are evolving almost as fast as the cybersecurity designed to fight it. Keep abreast of the latest forms it’s taking so your business can put up the best defense.
References
- https://get.cofense.com/CNT_Q3_2021_Phishing_Review_MSP_1021.html
- https://home.sophos.com/en-us/security-news/2019/what-is-a-keylogger
- https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-malware-what-is-a-keylogger.html
- https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/us/security/definition/Info-stealer
- https://heimdalsecurity.com/blog/banking-malware-trojans/
- https://www.eset.com/int/about/newsroom/press-releases/research/eset-research-discovers-wslink-a-new-malicious-loader-targeting-central-europe-north-america-and-t/
