It’s high time that we accept the fact that Attackers are employing methods to deliver malware, and steal credentials using old methods like Malvertising to new things like appliances connected to the Internet of Things. Every security expert has a different perspective on which threats should be at the top of the priority list. We have also a list of such 8 Threats that we think need to be considered in 2020.
Let’s start discussing each of these topics in detail and we will understand why such old concepts are still being overlooked in the Cyber Security Domain, thus giving a chance to the Attackers to exploit the security system.
1. Malvertising
Malvertising is basically the use of online advertising to spread Malware. Malvertising has fallen off the radar a few years back somewhere around 2015 but it is still prevailing in the market. Attackers have changed their strategy. Earlier attackers were targeting high-profile media sites with malware but they later learned the fact that such attacks were generating a lot of attention. Thus, they moved differently. They started targeting smaller brand names with a lot of traffic but less visibility, thus not getting in the limelight. Some of the examples are file-sharing websites or foreign sites. Malvertising can affect the user browsing experience in the following ways:
- It can redirect the browser to a malicious site.
- It can lead to displaying of unwanted ads, malicious content, or pop-up.
- It can lead to the download of malware or adware to the user’s computer. Thus, taking full control of the system.
2. Evil Maid Attacks
These are the attacks on the unattended device, in which the attacker with the physical access alters the device in such a way that they can later access the device or the data residing in the device. Such attacks go unnoticed because the device is not physically stolen. You can follow some preventive measures like:
- Never ever leave your device unattended.
- Encrypt your disks.
- Always Turn Off your computer when you are away.
- Add Boot Password in your Motherboard BIOS.
- Keep TPM Active.
3. Poor Encryption Practices
Have you ever wondered If encryption is so unbreakable, then why do Businesses and Governments keep getting hacked? Businesses are not overlooking encryption practices, they are rather overlooking proper encryption practices. You often tend to do the following mistakes and think that you have a fully secure system with proper encryption practices installed:
- You believe that regulatory compliance means that you are secure.
- Relying on the cloud providers to secure your data.
- Using wrong cipher modes and algorithms.
- Relying on low-level encryption.
- Assuming your developers are security experts.
4. Internet of Things
The Internet of Things is a system of interrelated computing devices, digital, and mechanical machines with unique identifiers and have the ability to transfer the data over a network without requiring any human intervention. Businesses are completely unaware of the fact of how new IoT devices are putting them at risk. Consider a refrigerator which on the same network as your laptop. Now, if the refrigerator is hackable, what is protecting your laptop and its data? IoT comes with its own set of key vulnerabilities:
- More endpoints mean more backdoors
- A lack of Standards puts your business at risk.
- Outdated system designs and objects leave devices open to cyber attacks.
- Manufacturers don’t provide long-term support, leaving technologies exposed.
5. In-memory Attacks
In this type of attack, attackers execute malware by having the victim launch it from a malicious Word or Excel document, or via a browser. Fileless malware does not write any part of its activity to the computer’s hard drive. Due to this reason, they are difficult to catch. According to a survey, Fileless attacks account for 20-30% of the infections that occur every day. Businesses can defend against in-memory attacks by disabling macros or any endpoint that does not need them.
6. Open-source Application Development Widgets
Developers are building and testing applications using environments, platforms, and tools that may be malicious. These days there is a sudden boom of third-party agencies that are providing app and website development services at a very reasonable price. Have you ever wondered why there is so much discount? These third-party agencies you cannot always trust, they are usually the ones with little security experience and skipping the checkpoints and testing used in the past. They prefer open-source tools, and a lot of those platforms were built by threat actors.
7. Mobilization of Data
The growing mobilization of data is posing a threat to the data on the devices. With the advancement in technology, people are now able to work from their tablets or phones in the same way they were doing from their laptops. But a lot of Configuration Management needs to be done to ensure that the data is being stored in a secure place as they do on laptops instead of getting stored in a personal iCloud account.
It is not only the corporate data that is at stake, people often tend to handle their social information inappropriately, thus getting it exposed while taking quizzes while entering data for freebies or discounts.
8. Under-educate Employees
It is very important to extend security training to each and every level of employment in the organization and make uneducated or elderly persons aware of the basics of security practices. Hackers often target low-level employees who have weaker security practice training than executives but have access to sensitive information.
It is very important to provide security and privacy training early, to help people understand how pervasive data can be, and what impact it can have on your life if it is hacked.
