Phishing. Stolen credentials. Malicious scripts. Brute force attacks. These were among the most prevalent cybersecurity threats for 2023, and they all have something in common: they all target access to your network through passwords or valid accounts. Cybersecurity is definitely not something you want to take a chance on or leave up to luck this St. Patrick’s day.
As companies and individuals increasingly interact, do business, and store data online, the payoff for a successful breach continues to rise. IBM reports that the cost of a data breach has increased by 15% over the past 3 years, reaching a global average of $4.45 million. With this much at stake, you can’t afford to leave the security of your sensitive information to luck. You need a proven, reliable cybersecurity strategy that minimizes risk and reduces your threat surface.
Here’s how to get started.
Where Are Your Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities?
With so much threat activity focused on unauthorized access, it’s critical to take a close look at gaps, risks, and potential access points. Vulnerabilities may emerge in unexpected places, so it pays to dig deep into your current processes to identify any weaknesses such as:
- Passwords – Weak passwords like birthdays, names, or the dreaded “123456” are still among the most commonly used credentials, even for business professionals. Passwords like these are easy to guess or break with brute force attacks, especially when they are used across multiple accounts.
- Departing Employees – When employees leave your company, their passwords, accounts, and access rights should be revoked immediately. If accounts sit stagnant, it may take a while to notice unauthorized activity. Without a documented process for ensuring that these access points are closed, you could be leaving your network system open to cyber attacks.
- Admin Rights – Access to admin accounts is the holy grail for cybercriminals. Admin rights throw open the doors to your system, giving attackers free rein to make broadscale changes, access sensitive information, and launch malicious scripts – all under the guise of an authorized user.
- Internal and External Threat Actors – Cyber threats don’t always come from outside your organization; sometimes, the attack starts within. Activity logs help you identify malicious activity from any source by tracking what takes place within an account. You can use this information to identify whether anything is happening that shouldn’t be.
4 Ways to Elevate Your Cybersecurity
Protecting your company from the threats above (and others like them) requires both proactive protection and reliable detection. Of course, the most desirable option is to prevent threat actors from accessing your system in the first place. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to prevent every incident. That’s why it’s also critical that you can quickly detect incidents and receive an immediate alert when unauthorized activity takes place.
The good news is that the right cybersecurity tools and processes can dramatically reduce your risk of an attack. In the event that a threat actor does find their way into your system, robust detection systems can alert you to the breach so you can take immediate action.
To help companies put the right protections in place, the Center for Internet Security recommends a set of best practices and tools to strengthen your cyber defenses. Among these recommendations are:
- Privileged Access Management – Privileged access management (PAM) solves the admin rights problem by removing all local admin rights from user accounts. Using the principle of least privilege, a PAM solution will securely manage and approve access requests based on predefined rules. IT personnel can also approve individual requests on an as-needed basis with just a few clicks. It’s one of the most effective ways to reduce your threat surface and vastly improve your security without frustrating end users.
- Password Management – You can significantly reduce the risks associated with weak passwords with a password management tool. Rather than having employees create and maintain their own passwords, a password manager allows you to access, share, and store passwords securely within the tool. With role-based access and secure cloud storage, team members can access their accounts on any device, even when working remotely.
- Multi-Factor Authentication – Multi-factor authentication (MFA) tools like Okta or Microsoft Authenticator add an extra layer of security in addition to the password. This ensures that even if a password is compromised, there is still protection for the account. MFA is so important that most cyber insurance companies require you to have it to retain coverage.
- Incident Response Plan – Unfortunately, it’s not possible to prevent every security incident. Cyber threats are continually evolving, and attackers are trying new technologies and attack paths all the time. An effective incident response plan can help you detect and respond to an attack quickly so you can minimize damage. Your plan should include a response team, reporting protocols, response procedures, a communication plan, and post-incident review processes.
Reduce Security Risks with CyberFOX
These aren’t the only elements of a strong cybersecurity strategy, but they are accessible, low-hanging fruit that can help you immediately elevate your security protocols and reduce your risk.
At CyberFOX, we help companies protect their critical data with password management and privileged access management. Our tools deliver simple, affordable solutions that keep your system safe while maintaining a seamless user experience. It’s not luck, it’s CyberFOX. Contact us today to schedule a demo!