How To Stop Cyber Attacks in 2024
By Lumify Learn Team | May 27, 2024
Cybercrime has recently become a significant issue in Australia. In fact, Australians are now reporting cyber security incidents every six minutes, compared to an average of seven minutes last year.
When businesses suffer cyber attacks, not only do they experience operation disruptions, but they might also suffer a critical loss of data and productivity, and reputational damage. But while technology continues to evolve in these dire times to fend off attackers and growing threats – so do the methods of cybercrime.
The threats of today’s IT landscape are likely far greater than those of the previous year; requiring all businesses and individual users to assess and implement any necessary upgrades to their current security systems.
Below, we discuss the most common cyber security threats of 2024 (so far), and what you can do to stop them.
What Are The Top Cyber Threats This 2024?
Phishing Attacks
Phishing is a type of social engineering attack wherein attackers impersonate legitimate brands or companies. They do this as an attempt to trick users into divulging confidential account, financial, or personal information through fraudulent e-mails, text messages, or calls.
Phishing is the most common type of scam in Australia. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 134,700 people fell victim to phishing scams from 2022 to 2023. This means that individuals and businesses need to be extra vigilant about protecting their sensitive information from threat actors.
To defend yourself and your business from phishing attacks, ensure you’ve got reliable filtering tools installed. These help keep your inbox and network protected from spam or malicious e-mails, automatically assessing them for potential threats such as malware or viruses. Some even implement AI-based algorithms to continuously identify new techniques and methods used by spammers.
Also, if you receive messages with subject lines like "Funds suspended" or "Verify your bank account," proceed with caution and avoid clicking on any links or downloading any attachments. Fraudsters send these emails to evoke panic or alarm with the receiver and trick them into revealing their sensitive data.
Finally, keep your web browsers updated to prevent cyber criminals from exploiting security vulnerabilities.
Ransomware
Alongside phishing, ransomware is among the top cybercrimes experienced by Australians.
Ransomware attacks hijack a victim’s data or computer system through a piece of malware. They are then pressed to pay a ransom (typically in Bitcoin or gift cards) to recover access to their data.
Unfortunately, many Australians are falling for ransomware attacks, with 101 attacks taking place against Australian companies in 2023 — an 80% increase from the year prior. As a result, the country has become the biggest ransomware target across Asia Pacific.
To protect your systems from ransomware, install strong, reliable perimeter safeguards (i.e. firewalls) to safeguard your network from potential malware infections. Each individual's computer must also have an anti-virus program installed to ensure constant protection against malware.
Additionally, it’s vital to have a business continuity or disaster recovery plan in place to prevent permanent data loss. Businesses are highly recommended to have offsite backups of their information – allowing for quick restoration in case of infected or compromised systems.
Distributed Denial-of-service attacks
In a Distributed Denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, cyber criminals use a network of compromised devices (also called botnets) to bombard a website with so much traffic, causing it to slow down or crash altogether. This can frustrate legitimate users trying to access the website and result in lost sales.
There are typically three types of DDoS attacks: application-layer attacks, volumetric attacks, and protocol attacks.
Volumetric attacks flood a server with false data requests, rendering them unable to process legitimate server traffic. Application-layer attacks, on the other hand, usually focus on only one machine, and target the topmost layer of the Open Systems Interconnection network model – concentrating on HTTP, HTTPS, SMTP, or DNS. Finally, protocol attacks send abnormal pings or partial packets to a server, overloading its memory and causing it to crash.
To protect your business network from all DDoS attacks, you need to develop a strategy based on each type. This can include increasing the bandwidth of your server to protect it from volumetric attacks, or blacklisting any IP addresses that have participated in DDoS attacks; stunting protocol or application-layer methods.
Having a proper disaster recovery plan in place can also mitigate the impact of such attacks and protect your information from permanent loss or damage.
IoT-based Attacks
Devices are increasingly becoming internet-connected, both at home and in the workplace. In fact, research shows that 127 new devices are connected every second to the internet, with IoT devices predicted to reach 29 billion worldwide by 2030.
This growing trend has offered yet another avenue for hackers to exploit. Alarmingly, IoT cyber attacks have already jumped by 41% in 2023 alone. This spike is partly due to users neglecting basic security measures like changing default passwords and keeping software up-to-date, leaving their devices vulnerable to unauthorised access.
To protect yourself and your company from IoT-based attacks, keep a record of all internet-connected devices and consistently update their firmware. Be sure to implement these updates before installing new smart devices to your business network.
Additionally, assess how new devices will impact the costs and complexities of your current security strategy before incorporating them into the workplace.
Human Error
Finally, all security tools, software, and their respective updates may be rendered ineffective should employees remain uninformed.
Human error continues to be one of the largest security threats in Australia, according to Deloitte, accounting for nearly 100% of cyber incidents. These often involve clicking on malicious links in phishing emails, downloading malware-laden attachments, falling for social engineering scams, or using weak passwords.
Consistent training and education on cyber security remains the best method in combating this. This can involve simulated exercises in identifying phishing scams or formal courses in the basics of implementing cyber security. What's more, ensuring the right staff are dedicated to help enforce your security policies is essential.
With the right training programs and guidance, business owners can help alleviate the inevitable carelessness of their workers, and ensure all are well-equipped with the fundamental knowledge and awareness to identify, manage, and remove threats as they come.
Ready to Study Cyber Security?
If you want to join the ever-growing, lucrative world of cyber security, it's important to take the right course. Lumify Learn offers the following security programs that you can take:
Through these courses, you will learn skills like network security, ethical hacking, risk management, and incident response, among other things. Mastering these areas will help you become prepared to contribute to the protection of digital assets and combat cyber threats.
All course are delivered 100% online by our expert trainers and mentors, so you can tailor your studies according to personal needs and schedule. And with our Lumify Edge program, you can connect with potential employers looking to hire cyber security professionals.
Get your start in one of the world’s most exciting industries. Enquire with us today.