The digital realm is increasingly seeing more stories of cyber-attacks being meted on both small scale enterprises and large organizations. Just in September of 2017, hackers attacked Equifax, the credit reporting agency in US, resulting to exposure of more than 143 million customer accounts. Yet, this is just one of the many large scale intrusive breaches happening around the world. So, what measures are savvy companies putting in place to mitigate the risks posed by modern day hacker? ‘
Step 1: Studying the hacker’s behavior
Fact is, today’s hacker has the knowledge to access even the most sophisticated of the systems. The key, then, shouldn’t be about trying to reparse their entry through building an impenetrable wall for a system. Rather, it should be about understanding a hacker’s behavior and customizing the systems accordingly so as to shut the hacker’s out of important data points.
According to Jeff “JL” Yastine, a celebrated editor at Total Wealth Insider, companies that have suffered damning security breaches had hackers roam through their data systems for prolonged periods before being detected. This means such a hacker can experiment with different strategies so as to get whatever information they’d want and even improve on the current strategy of breaching through the system.
Step 2: Mitigate
While investing in sophisticated security walls may shut out attacks by random hackers, it may not be enough for a skilled and determined hacker. A case in point, on November 19, 2017, hackers attacked Tether, bitcoin exchange platform, and made away with a corrosive sum of $31 million.
The only feasible way to prevent losses such as those suffered by Tether is by developing mitigation measures to minimize possible losses when a hacker finally penetrates the security walls. The mitigation measure will, basically, be dependent on the patterns that system administrators derive from a hacker’s behavior once they hack into the systems.
Step 3: Repeat and rinse
The digital realm is highly dynamic and strategies applied by one hacker may be vastly different from those used by another. The only way for a systems administrator to keep abreast with hacker’s changing tactics is through constant studying of their behaviors and tweaking the systems accordingly.
Cyber Security and SMEs
In comparison to established enterprises, SMEs may not have the financial muscle to invest in sophisticated systems or contract top class systems administrations. This is no to mean you should leave your business at the mercy of attackers. Here are some basic measures you should implement to safeguard your business.
- Staff training.
Constant training of the staff, especially those who interact directly with the systems, can help seal loopholes that attackers leverage on to penetrate the system.
- Keep the systems updated.
Dr. Mike Lloyd once said that using outdated technology is much like laying a welcome mat for attackers.
By updating your systems from time to time, you’ll have prevented attacks such as ‘WannaCry’ that are common with outdated systems.
- Invest in security systems that are built on the premises mobility and openness.
Such systems avail the necessary tools to keep your data safe and your business running optimally. They also avail the necessary learning tools so that you can keep your staff informed.
Studying a hacker’s behavior when they penetrate a system is certainly the best way to minimize losses and possibly beat them at their own game.
It doesn’t matter whether yours is an SME or a well-oiled business entity, using the study and mitigate approach gives you a head start and a chance to secure your business’ interest.