Today, implementing security measures for your digital business is not an option. Every day, there are more people connected to the network. Attackers take advantage of this situation to steal data, for example, in 2021 cyberattacks were detected in more than 70% of Latin American companies. For this reason, many companies have increased their efforts in security.

What are the most common cyber threats?

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting systems, networks, and programs from potential digital attacks. There are several types of malicious acts today that threaten to damage or steal data to disrupt workloads and services, which is why it is essential to identify the most popular threats:

Malware

Malware is an application intended to cause damage to systems by gaining unauthorized access to networks. This is the most common type of cyber threat and is used for financial gain, but, it is also often used as a weapon by activist hackers.

Malware is a set of collective software that can be of the following types:

  • A virus is a software that attaches itself to clean files, replicates, and programs itself in others. Once installed, it can delete files, join machines to a botnet, or allow remote access to established systems.
  • Worms are programs like viruses but without host files. This type of malware affects the system by installing itself in the memory.
  • Trojans are software packages that got their name from the famous wooden horse from the Trojan story, as they can disguise themselves as a legitimate application or hide inside one, opening backdoors to give attackers access to the system.
Ransomware

Ransomware is also a form of malware, originally designed to encrypt data and lock victims out of their systems. Attackers used to ask for money to release the stolen data. Modern variants extract backups to threaten the victim to make them public.

Phishing

It is an attack technique that consists of manipulating people to carry out unsafe actions or divulge sensitive information. Attackers use deceptive communications (such as email, messages, or websites) that pose as a trusted person or organization to get you to download established files.

Cybersecurity tips

Some measures you can take to protect your company from these attacks are:

  • Update software and operating systems: Although it can be tedious, it is important to spend a few minutes because the operating system providers usually correct vulnerability errors and create new security patches with each update. Maintaining an outdated version makes your computers vulnerable.
  • Install and update antivirus: Antivirus software remains one of the most complete ways to protect your company’s computers, thus keeping the door closed to possible threats that affect one or more computers.
  • Educate your employees: Knowing how vulnerable your company information can be if any door is opened to a threat, it is indispensable that you train your employees on the basic actions they can take to avoid any breach.

Cybersecurity is one of the current connectivity challenges, since being connected and depending on new information technologies makes cybersecurity a new latent need. Learn more about cybersecurity here.