How Can Your Business Defend Against Threat Group Attacks?

Posted by One82 on November 23rd, 2022

Expecting your business to run smoothly and encountering no cyber-attack whatsoever is a pipe dream. This is not to demotivate or scare you but to help you prepare for reality. Cyber threats are rising, and cybercriminals are getting smarter every day. As a result, security operations center California firms have become necessary for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

One of the most popular ways cybercriminals attempt to sabotage businesses is by attacking as a group. This presents a newfound problem for SMBs to deal with coordinated attacks that are difficult to defend against.

Cyber Threat Groups Defined

We can define cyber threat groups as attackers who function as a coordinated and synchronized entity. They constantly modify their attack tactics to avoid detection. These attackers are well-funded and work in sync with others to realize their evil plans.

Even if governments take down some groups, or they seemingly disappear, new ones pop up somewhere else with a similar agenda.

Primary Categories of Threat Groups

There are three main types of threat groups that businesses need to protect themselves from:

1. Nation-state adversaries – These attackers are well-funded and obtain sensitive information through unauthorized means like espionage and cyber theft to achieve their country’s goals and further its political agenda. If they are not part of the government, they may be getting indirect support.

2. Financially motivated attackers – Hackers belonging to these groups use techniques like phishing emails, click fraud and ransomware to extort money from the victims. They attack the vulnerabilities of human nature using social engineering attacks.

3. Hacktivists – Individuals who consider themselves hacktivists may not be motivated by financial extortion but by social ideology to promote unrest or public change.

Ways Through Which SMBs Can Protect Themselves

Being short on resources that can help SMBs secure their business is a common problem. However, you can mitigate the risk by working with a qualified and experienced IT consulting firm.

Here are some strategies they recommend to businesses:

• Password awareness – Employees must use strong passwords for their various accounts, and no two should be the same.

• Segregating the network – If the network is divided into components based on functionality, an attack on one of them will not bring the entire infrastructure down.

• Patch application – Regularly applying patches to business networks and systems helps prevent the exploitation of vulnerabilities.

• 24/7 monitoring – With uninterrupted monitoring by a dedicated team, you can save your business from several cyber threats before they inflict any damage.

Conclusion

Reducing your attack surface and reinforcing your security posture should be the first order of business for SMB owners. Security operations center California can help in this regard and reduce the likelihood of operational disruptions.