How to Avoid the Most Common Causes of Cybersecurity Incidents

Introduction

Cybercrime is at an all-time high, with just the cybercrime insurance industry alone expecting to grow from $8 billion globally in 2020 to $20 billion by 2025.¹ Although cyber liability insurance policies now exist to help cover potential losses resulting from cybersecurity incidents, it is of course better to take measures to ensure these events do not occur in the first place. Below are outlined three measures businesses can take to help prevent cybersecurity incidents.

3 Key Cybersecurity Measures

1. Protect your accounts

• Make sure your password is secure. The longer your password is the harder it is to guess. Similarly, the more complex it is (variety of characters, symbols, numbers, etc.) the more possibilities there are to guess per length, increasing the difficulty of cracking.
• Don’t share your password with people or other places. If you use your password on multiple sites and one of them is breached, it will be the first password a threat actor would use to attempt to get into your account somewhere else even if you haven’t used it in years. Threat actors collect and amass this data. Some recent leaks show more than 7 billion total passwords exist in the 2021 version of RockYou, a common password wordlist used to unlock accounts via the “brute force” method.
• When applicable, use another form of authentication to supplement your password. “Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)” is a common form of additional protection available via an app on your phone, an SMS (text message), a call with a recorded number, or a digital token. While this adds a step to your login process it’s also one of the easiest measures to take in securing your data, accounts, and online presence.

2. Be vigilant of emails in your inbox

• Most cyber events are a result of either poor configuration (weak passwords, insecure protocols and applications, remote access software) or a matter of social engineering. In social engineering, a threat actor attempts to get you to take action, following their request, that provides them direct access or compromises your account, computer, or network.
  • To avoid this, be cautious during communication. If something doesn’t seem right take a step and examine the message more clearly. Common methods of identifying a “phishing” email include:
    • Spelling or grammar issues
    • A change in the user’s email address
    • Non-functional or unexpected attachments or hyperlinks
    • A sudden call to action, or sense of urgency
    • Making requests that may not pertain to you or may be outside of your normal daily duties
  • If you are receiving communications that were not expected that have a combination of the above characteristics, it is likely that you have received what is known as a phishing email. It is best to report these to your IT department.
• Not every phishing email is from a suspicious account. Sometimes it can come from people you know. It’s common for a threat actor to utilize an account, from email compromise, to get access to more accounts. Exercise an appropriate level of suspicion regarding unexpected links or attachments.

3. Be aware of your surroundings

• Not every cyber breach involves a cyber-attack, and in many cases passwords or compromising information can be obtained from physically entering the premises or looking through discarded paper.
  • Consider shredding any documents leaving your place of work or home as this makes it harder to retrieve data that may allow a threat actor to impersonate you.
  • Don’t allow unconfirmed individuals access to your premises, especially where computers or other equipment are located. If access must be granted, security cameras and an escort are good security measures to help offset the risk.
  • A threat actor may also take advantage of human nature.
  • Observe a clean desk policy as this helps encourage good password hygiene as well as making it more obvious if your workstation has been tampered with.
  • Do not plug in unexpected removable media (flash drives, CDs, DVDs, etc.) as these may contain malicious software

Conclusion

Taking measures to prevent cybersecurity breaches can help greatly reduce the chances of a business succumbing to related losses and interruption. The above measures are just a few of the steps businesses can take to help protect themselves from security compromises and attacks.

In the case that a breach has already occurred, it is advisable to seek the help of digital forensics experts as early as possible when a cyber-attack or breach occurs and during subsequent remediation processes. As evidence of these events is prone to deletion and being overwritten as time goes on, it is more difficult to provide a complete picture of events the longer it takes to begin analyses following a breach or similar event.

References

1. https://www.statista.com/topics/2445/cyber-insurance/