As technological advancements continue to dominate the modern business age, regardless of the type of company you run, you’ll be using technology one way or another. Technology has indeed improved business operations significantly, making it much easier for companies to thrive in the modern age.

However, there are still a few drawbacks to consider. The transition of companies to the digital world and the increased use of technology have attracted criminals to exploit the gaps in cybersecurity. As cybercriminals continue to develop new trends in order to break into companies and steal data, they are also disrupting operations.

No business in today’s modern age can remain safe from criminal activities unless effective security measures are taken. However, it’s essential to know what cybersecurity threats your business may encounter to implement proper security measures. To help you in this purpose, here are the top cybersecurity threats to watch out for.

Ransomware

Ransomware refers to malicious software that infects a device and encrypts all the data within. The victim is then asked to pay ransom to gain their data back. Over the past few years, ransomware attacks targeting individuals have significantly reduced. However, at the same time, companies have suffered an increase in ransomware attacks. The main reason behind this is that businesses are more willing to pay ransom compared to individuals, as such an attack can lead to devastating consequences. For instance, a company failing to provide ransom will lose all business data, including their customers’ confidential data.

What’s worse is that ransomware attacks are becoming more sophisticated. To effectively avoid such attacks, you’ll need to be a step ahead of the criminals by pursuing advanced courses in cybersecurity. Completing a post-graduate in cybersecurity is one of the best options available for this purpose. You can also choose an online program to learn at your own pace with ease. So, make sure to enroll in an online cyber security masters course to save your company from the increasing cybersecurity threats.

Social engineering

The term social engineering encompasses various malicious techniques, such as scareware, phishing, and pretexting. Cybersecurity threats focus on stealing private data by manipulating victims into giving away information. For example, cybercriminals send carefully designed fraudulent emails to individuals to trick them into giving information such as credentials and credit card numbers during a phishing attack. Moreover, some phishing attacks may also cause victims to download malicious email attachments containing viruses or open fake websites. As a result, cybercriminals can quickly gain the information they need to hack into business accounts and bank accounts, stealing data and money. It’s not surprising that every 1 in 99 emails is a phishing attack.

On the other hand, scareware is making it further challenging for companies to protect their digital assets. Pretexting involves cybercriminals directly communicating with victims to get sensitive information. While new social engineering attacks are emerging day by day, it’s possible to prevent all of them by providing training to employees to identify fraudulent emails and alerts.

DDoS attacks

Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks focus on overwhelming an organization’s network resources. As a result, a company’s network infrastructure undergoing a DDoS attack fails within just a few moments, leading to completing service failure, leaving several customers unattended. As companies continue to utilize e-commerce, DDoS attacks have increased significantly. They are an effective way to halt operations in organizations of all sizes and types. In fact, only in the first half of 2020, there were 4.83 million DDoS attacks that cost about $100,000 per hour due to service disruption. This is alone enough to show how devastating a DDoS attack can be for a company.

There are several ways to conduct DDoS attacks. Your company must implement several different security measures to combat such threats. For instance, protocol-based, application layer, and volume-based attacks all require different cybersecurity strategies. To counter protocol-based attacks, you’ll need to blacklist IP addresses, while volume-based attacks require you to increase bandwidth. In such a situation, it’s best to hire a cybersecurity professional to develop effective security strategies.

AI-driven attacks

Over the years, machine learning technology and artificial intelligence have become widely accessible. While this means that businesses will be able to use such technology for their benefit, it also means that cybercriminals will use it for cyberattacks. For example, cybercriminals are now using artificial intelligence tools to conduct almost undetectable social engineering attacks. AI-driven attacks are not prone to human errors and mistakes, making them a top cybersecurity threat. On the other hand, AI is also being used to create highly sophisticated ransomware.

Moreover, AI-driven attacks also allow cybercriminals to attack organizations at a larger scale for prolonged periods.For example, a DDoS attack can be performed automatically without any human interference with the help of AI, allowing it to last for days or even weeks.

Conclusion

As businesses continue to become more dependent on technology each year, cybercrime is bound to rise. However, this does not mean your company should avoid the use of technology. A better option is to stay ahead of cybercriminals by being aware of their threats and taking the right security measures. So, make sure to remember the cybersecurity threats mentioned above to prepare your business for today’s modern business world.