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How to external threats guidelines
Every new piece of technology that supports your company also gives potential adversaries new avenues for attack. You might feel overburdened trying to mitigate every potential external threat as your attack surface grows. The external attack surface of today includes more than just web server services and internet ports; it also includes everything from compromised IT data and credentials to improperly configured cloud services and external source code repositories.
Understanding the different external threats that could put your company in danger will help you put more potent proactive mitigation measures in place.
How do external threats work?
Malicious outside actors who try to gain unauthorized access to networks, systems, and sensitive data constitute external threats. They typically use system flaws to gain initial access, then grant themselves more rights so they can accomplish their goals.
External cyberthreats can be divided into three categories:
- ransomware is a type of malware.
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks and hacking
- Similar to phishing, social engineering
External threat types
You can create a targeted data protection program once you are aware of the specific external threats that fall under each category.
Malware
Threat actors install malicious code, or malware, on devices in order to gather sensitive data. The computer or device can spread the malware throughout the network once it has been infected with the malicious software.
Virus
A virus is a piece of malicious software that spreads across the network after infecting a device. Computer viruses spread through email attachments and affect a device's files, changing how it functions. Security teams must also look for issues with devices and network services because modern viruses can evade detection even when using antivirus software, which is just one risk mitigation technique.
Ransomware
A virus known as ransomware encrypts data and storage devices, rendering them useless to anyone who lacks the decryption key. Sensitive data is also stolen by modern ransomware attacks. The malicious actors effectively hold the decryption key and the stolen data hostage by demanding payment from the victim company.
Sometimes, as part of a larger advanced persistent threat, malicious actors use a ransomware attack to divert security teams.
Social Engineering
The goal of social engineering is to manipulate people's emotions into acting in a way that is not in their best interests.
Phishing
When cybercriminals ask users to perform an action, usually click on a link or download a document, they are phishing users. The attachment or link spreads malware or robs users of their login credentials. Whaling, business email compromise, and spear phishing are examples of phishing attacks that employ specialized techniques.
Pretexting
Malicious actors use open source intelligence (OSINT) about their victims to gain their trust before launching a pretexting attack. They might pose as a recently hired executive, a member of the IT team, or a representative of human resources, for instance. The victim trusts the cybercriminal using the fictitious identity because they appear to know inside information about the company.
Watering Hole Attacks
These attacks target particular user groups, such as those engaged in a particular line of work. Cybercriminals compromise a website that they are aware the group visits in order to steal login information or install malware on devices.
Hacking
Threat actors who want to gain unauthorized access to systems commit hacking.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack
In a DDoS attack, malicious actors bombard an IP address with a large number of requests, overloading the system and resulting in a service interruption. Cybercriminals frequently carry out their attacks using a botnet, or network of connected computers. To carry out the attacks, they can also download tools from the dark web.
Session Hijacking
Cybercriminals can steal a user's session ID, a one-of-a-kind number used to identify a user while they are logged into a web application, by passively monitoring a network. By pretending to be the digital representation of the authorized user, the malicious actor deceives the application server. A configuration error that enables cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks is one way that malicious actors can steal the session ID.
Man-in-the-Middle Attack
Malicious actors steal or alter data being transmitted over connections to public wireless networks during this eavesdropping attack. Attackers frequently take advantage of an application flaw, such as a misconfigured secure sockets layer (SSL).
Brute Force Attack
Using stolen credentials, cybercriminals attempt a brute force attack to gain unauthorized access to systems and networks. On the dark web, they typically buy the credentials. For instance, after a data breach, malicious parties will market combo lists, which are collections of compromised usernames and passwords.
Types of External Threat Actors
Threat actors come in different flavors like ice cream, but they all pose risks to cybersecurity and privacy. Several popular types include:
- Organized crime: financial motivation and varying sophistication and skill levels
- Nation-state actors: funded by governments to use sophisticated skill sets for sabotage or espionage
- Cyber terrorists: varying in sophistication and skill, politically motivated
- Hacktivists: operating disruptions with varying levels of sophistication and skill that are philosophically motivated
- Thrill-seekers: internally driven, varying in sophistication and skill
How to Be Safe From External Threats
A defense-in-depth approach to security is necessary to safeguard your company from outside threats.
You should take into account the following actions that reduce the risks of an external threat as your security posture ma
tures:
- To reduce risks brought on by things like malware and ransomware, endpoint detection and response (EDR) monitors abnormal endpoint activity and automates responses.
- Monitoring for known vulnerabilities across all network-connected devices and applying security updates is known as vulnerability scanning and patch management.
- Provide employees with training opportunities in cyber awareness so they can recognize and report phishing attempts.
- To stop cybercriminals from using data they steal, encrypt data at rest and data in transit.
- Dark web monitoring look for leaked credentials and targeted threats by scanning the dark web and illegal Telegram channels.
External attack surface management and monitoring of the dark web
With Flare, you can automate your dark web monitoring and regain control over your growing digital footprint. You can implement a proactive security program that reduces the risk of external threat by combining these actions.
With the help of Flare's platform, you can identify new attack vectors by mapping your organization's external attack surface, which will make it harder for malicious actors to use your IT environment against you. Our platform's automated dark web monitoring also enables your security team to add threat intelligence to alerts, which helps to cut down on noise and organize response efforts.
