How to Attain Cyber Security In The Workplace (A Complete Beginner’s Guide)

Introduction 

Networks, devices, systems, and applications are protected or recovered from digital attacks through the use of tools, technologies, policies, processes, controls, and procedures with cyber security training. As a result of these digital attacks, sensitive data is accessed, destroyed, and altered, workflows are disrupted, and money is extorted. 

• Hackers use a wide range of attack types to compromise data confidentiality, integrity, and availability. 
• The purpose of confidentiality attacks is to steal sensitive information, such as Personally Identifiable Information. 
• By attacking integrity, organizations are able to damage their reputations and sabotage operations. 
• Users are prevented from accessing data through attacks on availability. 

At the individual level, an attack could be the precursor for identity theft, extortion, and the loss of irreplaceable data such as family photos. At the organization level, a cyberattack could result in data loss, disruption to operations, ransom demands, industrial espionage, regulator censure, and loss of reputation. 

Detecting, remediating, and investigating cyber threats is faster and easier with an integrated, automated approach to cyber security training. 

In this era of mobile platforms, remote working, and other shifts, high-speed access to ubiquitous and large data sets is more prevalent, which makes it harder to prevent a security breach.  

Microsoft was the victim of a hacking gang called Lapsus$ on March 20, 2022. The group claimed they had hacked Microsoft and compromised Cortana, Bing, and several other products in the process in a screenshot uploaded on Telegram. Thus the need for a strong and strict workplace cyber security is at an all-time high. 

Every second, people on Earth create 1.7 megabytes of data due to the cloud’s increasing importance. Enterprises must now store, manage, and protect these data and deal with the challenges of explosive data growth. Companies need new technology platforms to implement business models, including data lakes that can aggregate information across environments, such as vendor and partner channel assets.  

In addition to gathering more data, companies are storing it on the cloud, granting access to a variety of people and organizations, such as suppliers, and centralizing it. 

This expanded data access has been exploited in many recent high-profile attacks. In 2020, the Sunburst hack spread malicious code via regular software updates.  

A top hotel chain’s third-party application was also compromised by attackers in early 2020, allowing them to access more than five million guest records. (Source: Link) 

Why Is Cybercrime Increasing? 

More than 80% of businesses around the world are reportedly affected by cybercrime in terms of security currently. It is common for businesses to employ various technologies without letting people choose to opt out or let them know what data is being gathered about them. Data breaches will occur, as a result, putting people’s sensitive information at risk of being used by cybercriminals. 

The corporate world today allows partners and customers to access information in diverse ways, facilitating collaboration and in the process, land up unknowingly exposing networks to the public with zero security making it easy for cyber-attackers.  

With the advent of Big Data, cyber attackers have become more skilled at hacking. A signature-based tool is no longer used for evading traditional security measures.  

Big data was one of the five major global security threats listed in a recent information security forum. 

A large amount of information could be exposed to cyber-attacks if the large data sets are aggregated, stored, and processed without security measures. 

What Is the Impact of Cybercrime? 

Global Report on the Economic Impact of Cybercrime – No Slowing Down, published by CSIS and McAfee, describes how cybercrime has profound effects on economies worldwide.  

According to IBM, the highest ever recorded, $4.24 million, was the average cost of a data breach in 2021. It took 212 days on average to identify a breach. Thus, it’s high time companies start investing in cyber security.  

In addition to investing in new security and mitigating the direct damage caused by an attack, businesses must also invest in preventing future attacks. It is also common for them to experience financial losses or IP losses. In addition to auditing and moving their financial accounts, businesses may need to attempt to recover their stolen intellectual property. It is possible that lost assets will never be recouped in their entirety. 

There is also significant disruption to the assets themselves. A ransomware attack, or another cyber-attack, could cause an organization to lose its cash buffer. The company’s continued existence may depend on the confidentiality of its intellectual property. Other companies are free to use IP that is sold in other nations. 

Importance of Cybersecurity 

Cybersecurity protects our data against cyber-attackers who would use it to harm us. Cyber security encompasses everything related to its protection. The term “sensitive information” refers to information that the government or industry can classify, as well as private information, intellectual property, personally identifiable information (PII), and protected health information (PHI).  

Cyber security encompasses advanced cyber defense programs and mechanisms to protect this data. Critical infrastructure includes hospitals, financial institutions, and power plants, which are vital to society. These are essential to the functioning of our society. 

Identity theft and extortion attempts are two instances of cyber security attacks that can seriously affect an individual’s life. 

Our personal information and data are important to us all. A digital healthcare system may ask for sensitive information when logging in or when filling out a form. Our data might fall into the wrong hands if these systems, networks, and infrastructures are not protected properly. We are talking about technology and policy protection in this context. 

Similarly, governments, military forces, and businesses play an integral role in society. Their servers, computers, and other devices store huge amounts of data. Sensitive information is often included in this data. In many cases, revealing this information can cause great harm to the trust citizens have in governments, business competitiveness, reputations of individuals, and to consumer confidence in corporations. 

How to Protect Your Organization From Cybercrime 

Cyber security training is considered an important issue for micro and medium businesses (SMBs) once their budgets increase. The most likely targets for cybercrime are these businesses. The majority of cyberattacks targeting small businesses are focused on these companies. In contrast, smaller businesses often leave themselves vulnerable to criminals because they lack strong security systems. It’s time to put cybersecurity at the top of your priority list if you run an SMB. In spite of limited resources, it’s still possible to protect yourself.  

• Educate Staff
  Untrained employees are a huge vulnerability in terms of security. There should be cyber security awareness training for reporting signs of cybercrime and training employees to recognize warning signs of cybercrime. Cyber security training for employees is mandatory for employees. Phishing is a common form of security threat. The Henry M. Jackson Foundation educated its employees on medical research by frequently sending out fake phishing emails throughout the year. The Jackson Foundation initially implemented these phishing-education campaigns and saw a 27 percent click-through rate among employees. Employees receiving the fake phishing email received warning notifications when they clicked on it. Eventually, the company could reduce click rates to about three percent by making the employees more aware in the future. 
• Protect Your Sensitive Data
  A system security plan (SSP) describes all of the security measures that protect your data. An incident response plan includes methods for responding to incidents, including hardware, software, cyber security training online, and security measures. Security breaches must be reported, and employees must practice secure habits. You can limit access to authorized users by following the instructions provided. When schedules get busy, it also prevents things from falling through the cracks. By keeping things in-house, you can save money, but you’re better off hiring a consultant if you don’t have any IT knowledge. You could end up paying more for a poorly written SSP. 
• Implement a Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM) Solution
  Risk management connected to third parties (also known as vendors, suppliers, partners, contractors, or service providers) is known as third-party risk management (TPRM). By understanding how third parties use these tools and what safeguards are in place for those third parties, organizations will be able to protect themselves from such misuse and abuse. Based on industry, regulatory guidelines, and other factors, the scope and requirements of a TPRM program can vary greatly from organization to organization. In spite of this, many TPRM best practices are universally applicable to all businesses and organizations.  

Examples of Damages to Companies Affected by Cyber Attacks and Data Breaches 

Breach of Uber: September 2022 

Mid-September saw the announcement that one of the biggest firms in the world, Uber, had been hacked: “I am a hacker and Uber has experienced a data breach,” followed by a number of emojis. In order to investigate the situation further, the corporation had to shut down its internal communications system and engineering systems.  

In addition, the hacker asserted that it was possible to access several of the company’s databases, including communications data. Uber contacted law enforcement after learning that a worker’s account had been hijacked. Uber had previously experienced a cyber-attack but failed to notify it, which resulted in a court dispute and costly fees. 

Breach of Data at First American Financial Corporation (2019) 

• Eight hundred eighty-five million records were affected. 
• A variety of items were compromised, such as bank account numbers, bank statements, mortgage statements, tax records, social security numbers, wire transaction receipts, and images of driver’s licenses. 
• Applicants are charged by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) with damages. 
• No attackers were involved. 
• The company’s servers were not breached, but rather an authentication error made it possible to view documents without authentication. 

Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR) are common web design error that allows anyone to access the direct link. Cybercriminals can access the remaining documents using Advanced Persistent Bots (APBs) once a single link is found. Years went by without this error being discovered. First American is alleged to have failed to adhere to its own policies, omitting to conduct a security review or a risk assessment of the flawed computer program. 

Conclusion  

No business is too small to consider cybersecurity, and many affordable tools are available to help small businesses stay protected. The larger components of a cybersecurity plan will seem much more manageable once you’ve taken a few small steps. Taking small steps and reaping the rewards will motivate you to follow through on your cyber security training in the new year to secure your organization. Cybersecurity expert job roles are in huge demand, so if you are planning for a career in cybersecurity, UNext Jigsaw’s Postgraduate Certificate Program in Cybersecurity is an ideal course for you.