In 2022, a lot of new variants of ransomware and groups (Ransomware as a Service) have targeted several major organizations and enterprises. New techniques (new features introduced by the notorious “LockBit” group, and a newcomer, “Play” that employs self-propagation techniques) and groups emerged as targeted ransomware attacks double in 2022. Today’s organizations, no matter their size, consist of many digital assets that power and enable businesses. These assets, including websites, information, data, and other forms of an online presence have become the fuel of modern businesses. And they all need to be protected.
Enterprise cybersecurity, like its counterpart in the physical world, defends and protects all an organization’s digital assets, no matter where they are stored or accessed. To keep themselves effectively protected, companies need to implement comprehensive cybersecurity strategies. And protecting digital assets and executing these protection strategies is never the job of just one person, or even a group of people, at any given company. Everybody is responsible for cybersecurity, including the CEO, the board, including the senior leadership team. It takes everybody to make sure that the company is prepared.
What makes enterprise cybersecurity important?
Hackers are starting to get smarter about the usage of business intel. Hackers want your company’s sensitive data, and they are shrewd about how they use that data to manipulate and extort your company before they ransom your data back to you. Your cybersecurity defense strategy is going to be what keeps your organization protected and guarded against these bad actors. This is where the true value of enterprise cybersecurity is shown. A well-developed cybersecurity plan, and execution of protection technologies and management, help combat cyber threats, data leaks, phishing attempts, malware and so much more.
Cyber threats:
The main goal of a cybersecurity threat is to attack and break into your company’s digital assets (network, databases, applications, email systems etc…) and extract your most sensitive information, or simply disable your information infrastructure to bring business to a halt. A lot of things are really simple in a way that hackers go about it is, they try to find the lowest hanging fruit, the easiest to exploit vulnerabilities, and once the hacker is in, it becomes even easier to make lateral moves and jump from computer to computer, mining data, and credentials as they move through the system. This type of breach can often result in a data leak.
Data leaks:
Data leaks occur when any data is accessed by an unauthorized source, either externally or by someone inside the organization. These bad actors should have never had access to that information in the first place. When these leaks happen that often it’s the people with the power they’re going after. They are going after CISOs, CFOs, and CEOs. They want to attack people at the top of that company’s organizational chart. Gaining access to their information gives the hackers, even more, leverage when bartering for a ransom later down the line. It often also opens hackers up to higher levels of access to the company’s information. Posing as the organization’s higher-ranking members, cybercriminals now have the clearance to interact with the company as a whole, often resulting in disastrous consequences for the business.
Consequences of a cyber attack:
When hackers target the data of both high-ranking company members, and just the company in general, it isn’t only private information that is at risk. It is also the integrity and the reputation of the company. When current and potential customers are looking at a company and see that they’ve been hacked, it makes them lose trust in that organization and its ability to protect their customer’s data. This can result in huge financial losses as well. Additionally, the company’s workflow will be disrupted, stalling efficiency, and costing even more money in the long run. And these issues aren’t exclusive to big businesses either. Any company, non-profit, or government agency that is attacked, no matter the size, can have their data stolen and compromised, resulting in a loss of reputation, and in some cases, even legal action.
Best practices for enterprise cybersecurity:
Resiliency is just as important as having a good defense.” In other words, it is important to both keep attackers out, and be prepared to stop them if (and when) they get past your defenses. So, with the power of defense and resiliency in mind, let’s examine some of the best practices companies can employ for their enterprise cybersecurity.
- Be camera shy. The less information that people can discover about you or your company online, the better.
- Keep up to date with updates and maintenance (Vulnerability Management). Falling behind on cybersecurity updates and technology can often be the golden opportunity hackers are looking for.
- Identify threats and assess the situation on a regular basis. You can’t defend against something you don’t know about. Awareness is the key to a strong defense.
- Learn various ways to detect and neutralize threats (use CTI), both internal and external. Hackers are continuously evolving in their attempts to enter your systems, your defenses should be continuously evolving too.
- Manage your security events (for example via a Security Operation Center – SOC. Implement a Detection & Response solution and SIEM).
- Utilize end-to-end security – Defense in depth – Hardening. Coordinate with partners (partners with knowledge) and clients to widen your net and increase the chances of being able to detect threats.
- Secure Backup is your last line of defense. Respect this rule: 3-2-1-1-0 (with Trusted Immutability, one Offline Backup, and Backup Verification).
- Employee education. Teaching your team about all the different risk factors can help to reduce the number of attacks that are generated through human error alone. Employees need to have awareness and understanding of the different types of hacks, as well as the risks and penalties that come with them.
- Examine the potential vulnerabilities or weak spots in your organization’s defense strategy. Discover where you could be susceptible to attack and defend it.
- Create strong passwords and defense (IAM approach). This is especially true for high-level members who are more likely to be targets of an attack.
- Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA). This use of multiple forms for authentication can help to lower the chances of an attack being successful, use bastion.
- Have an action plan in place for when an attack occurs. To best be prepared to navigate all the risks of a cyberattack, you need to have a solid defense plan in place that you use to ensure your company responds to the attack with the best of their ability.
- Technology watch to understand the last ransomware groups’ playbooks. For example: Follow the ransomware leak site Ransomware.live (based on Ransomwatch).
For 2023, our desire is to offer a more pure cybersecurity knowledge sharing for dynamic enterprises, one that focuses on a tailored and interoperable security ecosystem (Data Protection, Hybrid Cloud, IAM, Detection & Response, Vulnerability Management, SASE, etc.). We continue to believe in the power of people-oriented partnerships. Our security experts become trusted members of the communities. Additionally, we go above and beyond to ensure timely delivery and publish effective blog posts (Infosec blog for readers who want to stay secure.). We write about the latest cybersecurity updates, vulnerabilities, Zero Day, threats, and other trending security news. As a result, you gain the relevant resources to help keep you aware and secure.
Original-Network.com is proud to be a trusted authority across our industry. Our team provides personalized blog posts, and support across a variety of Data Management, Security, and Cyber Resilience.
Thanks to our partner Veeam Software for their sponsorship.
We wish you all a great 2023!
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