When the pandemic struck in 2020, it sparked an unprecedented amount of cybercrime that has no signs of slowing down in the near future, with a prediction that it will cost organizations $10.5 trillion in damages annually by 2025. With more people and data online than ever, staying on top of the latest cyber threats is critical for your data protection.
What are the top cyber security threats of 2022?
We’ve compiled a list of some of the most common ways hackers get away with stealing sensitive data.
7. Cryptomining
Compared to a full-blown cyberattack, cryptomining might look harmless to your organization at first. But when hackers use cryptomining, it’s often the first step or a gateway into a more serious type of cybercrime. At the most basic level, unsolicited cryptomining will reduce the life of your hardware, slow your bandwidth, and drive up your AWS compute costs.
In the worst-case scenario, the unknown party will enter your computer environment and set up a miner to make a passive income. At the same time, they can conduct other malicious activities, such as finding sensitive data stored on your network to steal.
6. Social Engineering
In a social engineering attack, it’s not your system that needs preparation, but the user behind the screen. By manipulating users into performing harmful actions or divulging confidential information, hackers can exploit human error to get passwords and even credit card information.
Phishing is one example of a social engineering attack. By targeting the user, phishers will put on a convincing charade of a trustworthy figure — and it works. With 82% of data breaches stemming from human error, cybercriminals are only getting smarter with their social engineering attacks.
5. Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS)
Ransomware boomed during the pandemic and has only become more sophisticated, widely available and convenient for hackers. Cybercriminals can now even partner with providers of Ransomware-as-a-Service. This option means hackers can deploy pre-made ransomware tools to execute an attack in exchange for a percentage of the successful ransom payment.
RaaS makes ransomware attacks significantly more affordable for small-time hackers and easier to deploy, meaning that the number of ransomware attacks will only continue to climb.
4. Poor Data Management
By 2025, humanity’s collective data will reach 175 zettabytes — and securing that data from threat actors is vital. But due to the sheer amount of new information we create daily, piles of surplus data and poor data management often lead to confusion, leaving data vulnerable to hackers.
With more than half of new data never being used or analyzed, experts predict a shift away from “big data” toward “right data” — storing only data that is needed. Organizations are starting the slow shift to this new trend. In the meantime, having a strict data strategy plan in place is key to making sure your information stays under lock and key and out of the hands of unauthorized users.
3. Internet of Things (IOT) Attack
From office spaces to retail stores, businesses are finding new, innovative ways to integrate IoT devices into their infrastructure to create an ecosystem of interconnected devices for a seamless experience. And at this rate, it’s estimated that the number of active IoT devices will surpass 25.4 billion in 2030.
But because of the limited computing capacity of IoT devices and the lack of built-in security measures in their systems, they can be highly vulnerable to hackers. This introduces huge risk for IoT users since hackers could exploit the vulnerability of a single device in the ecosystem and potentially gain access to your business’ entire network.
2. Cloud Vulnerabilities
Companies and private users have embraced the digital cloud as a convenient storage room to free up space on their devices. But there’s a caveat — despite the convenience of the cloud, it’s often associated with the risk of unauthorized access, which can lead to a data breach.
As more organizations move toward a cloud-based environment, attackers are following close behind. Malware targeting Linux environments, which many cloud-based operations rely on, rose dramatically in 2021.
1. Man-In-The-Middle Attack (MITM)
When a hacker inserts themselves between two parties that believe they are in a private transaction, they are using a MITM attack — a glorified form of online eavesdropping.
These attacks are possible through unencrypted or poorly protected Wi-Fi access points. By connecting to the same router, a third party can detect the weak points in your computer security and intercept sensitive information. With some remote employees using unprotected cafe or library Wi-Fi, these attacks are becoming more common.
Protect Your Data from Security Threats
With the ever-present threat of cyberattacks, get peace of mind with Bluefin’s omnichannel, integrated security solutions.
Bluefin specializes in PCI-validated P2PE and tokenization security that work in tandem to secure sensitive data, including payment information and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI). Our solutions provide organizations in retail, healthcare, higher education, government, nonprofit, and more with flexible options to devalue all data upon intake and transit in storage.
Learn more about our solutions for payment security and data security, or contact us today for a free consultation with our Security Solutions team.