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9 Facts About Network Security Threats and Solutions

9 Facts About Network Security Threats and Solutions

by | May 28, 2019

It’s important to understand the network security threats and solutions that are a potential threat to your organization. Here is a list to help you defend your organization. 

Network Security Threats and Solutions

Network security threats have become very common and widespread. Most companies are vulnerable to these threats and it is not a matter of if they will be impacted by it, but rather when they will be impacted.

According to Radware’s Global Application and Network Security Report 2018-19, the average cost of cleaning up a cyber attack was estimated to be $1.1 million.

IBM’s report on cybersecurity states that the cost of each stolen sensitive record in the year 2018 was nearly $148, which is an increase of 4.8% from the previous year.  In addition to costing considerable money, these network security threats and attacks can undermine your business drastically.

It can cause brand damage, loss of productivity, erode customer confidence, etc. The number of companies facing network security threats is on the rise. The current article discusses the most common types of network attacks and how network solutions can help to address them.

Related: Common Cyber Threats

Types of Network Security Threats

Network threats and attacks can take many different forms. The most common types of network security threats are as follows:

Denial of Service (DoS) Attacks

Denial of Service attacks is a series of attacks in which hackers try to misuse legitimate services. Hackers can use DoS attacks to ensure that the users or organization cannot access the services of a resource that they would normally expect to use. DoS attacks are quite common and consist of a significant proportion of entire network attacks globally. The most common and standard method employed by hackers for attempting a DoS attack is to simply overload the resources with a large number of illegitimate requests for service which can make the system crash.

Brute Force Attacks

A brute force attack is a powerful way of gaining access to a network. In this method of network attack, hackers try to breach the network security by using a trial and error method to guess the system’s password. The brute force attack software uses all possible combinations to figure out the password for a computer or network server. This method does not employ any innovative way to crack the password.

Identity Spoofing

Identity spoofing is also commonly known as IP address forgery. The hackers obtain access to the user’s IP address and make necessary changes to the packet headers which makes the regular host appear to be the source. Hackers can also make use of specially designed programs that can construct IP packets that appear to originate from valid addresses within the company intranet.

SSL/TSL Attacks

Transport Layer Security (TSL) is a mechanism that ensures the safety and integrity of data being transmitted between the server and the client. It provides strong authentication for both parties. The purpose of an SSL/TSL attack is to eavesdrop on and intercept the sensitive data exchange that takes place between the server and the client. The attackers are able to gain access to sensitive data and unencrypted information. SSL/TSL attacks are common forms of network threats and account for nearly 6% of all the analyzed network attacks.

Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks have become quite common in recent times. Hackers or unscrupulous elements create fake email addresses or websites that appear as authentic addresses or websites to the end user. The hacker sends emails by using the name of the business which is perceived as authentic communication by the recipient. The recipients are urged to click on malicious links which leads them to fake and potentially dangerous websites. The hackers can easily obtain the login and other sensitive information of the end users on their websites and use this data to their advantage.

Why You Need Network Solutions

As already discussed, network threats and attacks can have a severe monetary and non-monetary impact on your business. It is becoming difficult for organizations to keep themselves secure from hackers in this growing digital world. Network solutions help you to protect your network from these malicious hackers and keep your company’s sensitive information safe and secure.

Features of a Good Network Solution

Network solutions provide protection to your networks from different types of potential attacks and threats. Some of the key features of a good network solution are as follows:

Identify and Detect Threats

Network threats can manifest in the form of targeted attacks and can be designed to circumvent the technologies and solutions that are in place for identifying and blocking them. once these malicious elements are inside your network, you will need to develop a clear understanding of the individual attack components to address them. It is always beneficial to identify and detect the potential threats earlier which helps you to prevent the attack. A good network solution does the same and provides you with better protection.

Monitor and Respond Continuously

Network threats and attacks have become inevitable. It is highly likely that organizations will face network threats at some point in time. It is important for a good network solution to identify the potential threats and limit their impact on the business. in order to counter network threats, network solutions should be proactive and respond quickly and continuously once the network threat and security incident has been identified.

Prevent Attacks

Hackers are getting smarter by the day. They are evolving fast and the malware being planted by them keeps on changing its source code dynamically. This makes them difficult to detect and counter against effectively. An ideal network solution should take note of this ever-evolving source code of malware and should have an adaptive architecture which keeps evolving dynamically with the changing environment. This ensures that the network solution is providing you protection against dynamic malware and similar threats.

Integration

There are different network solutions available in the market with different features and due to the complexities of network threats, one solution may not be sufficient. A flexible and good network solution should offer excellent compatibility and integration with other security tools from different vendors. This ensures that all the different network solutions and tools used by you, integrate together and work as a single protection system providing you robust protection from potential attacks and intrusions on your networks.

Cyber Security Solutions Every Organization Needs

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The Ultimate Guide to Network Security Threats

The Ultimate Guide to Network Security Threats

by | Aug 8, 2018

Network security threats are here to stay. Read more to learn about the enemy and how to be prepared for these network security threats.

Network Security Threats: Comprehensive Guide

By simply using the internet, we are constantly being bombarded by multiple types of internet threats. All types of internet threats apply various forms of malware and fraud, in which every part of it uses HTTP or HTTPS protocols, and utilize other protocols and components, such as links in email or instant messaging, or malware attachments that have access to the Web.

Related: Comprehensive List of all Types of Internet Threats

Most types of internet threats assist cybercriminals by filching information for consequent sales and assist in absorbing infected PCs into botnets. Cyber-crime cases keep on increasing and expanding, intrinsically, cybersecurity should be considered a vital part of any business, and consequently be highlighted as part of its threat management detection system.

These types of internet threats profess an extensive variety of risks, comprising financial damages, personality theft, loss of private information, theft of network assets, damaged brand/individual status, and wearing away of user confidence in e-commerce and online banking. They have the ability for vulnerabilities to develop into attacks on computer systems, networks, and many more setups. They put users’ computer systems and professional computers at risk, so vulnerabilities must be secure so that attackers cannot penetrate the system and cause harm or loss. By deciding to overlook the perpetually present and potential threat of cyber-crime, businesses do not only put themselves at risk of monetary cost but also reputational damage.

Get to know the enemy, take a look at our guide, “The Comprehensive List of All Types of Internet Threats.”

Network Security Threats: How to Address Them

Hacking is easy. And profitable. An average phishing attack could potentially cost a mid-sized organization $1.6 million. Phishing is just one of the many ways that an organization can be attacked or breached.

Let’s talk about the top 5 most common network security threats, read more in our article “How to Address Common Network Security Threats”

What’s keeping you up at night? Is it hackers, insider threats, malware, or phishing? Maybe there are a few new types of network security threats that you haven’t heard of yet? You never know!

Even the most secure organization may have pitfalls that allow something to slip through the cracks. Consider Equifax and THE most talked about a breach of 2017 that could have been prevented so easily with a proper patching policy.

The fact of the matter is that the bad guys are constantly trying to catch us. You can train your employees all you want, but there’s still a chance that an employee may not be able to identify an extremely sophisticated phishing email. Phishing email creators are getting GOOD! These guys take anything from celebrity news, worldwide sporting events like the Olympics or the World Cup, or something as personal as W-2 information around tax time to make sure you will click on their email.

Read more in our guide, “Types of Network Security Threats and How to Combat Them.”

One big challenge with network security threats is the IPv6 DDoS attacks.

Every device on the Internet is assigned a unique IP address for identification and location definition. With the rapid growth of the Internet after its commercialization in the 1990s, it became evident that far more addresses would be needed to connect devices than the IPv4 address space available.

Because there are fewer than 4.3 billion IPv4 addresses available, depletion has been anticipated since the late 1980s, when the Internet started to experience dramatic growth. This depletion is one of the reasons for the development and deployment of its successor protocol, IPv6. Currently, IPv4 and IPv6 coexist on the Internet.

The total number of possible IPv6 addresses is more than 7.9×1028 times as many as IPv4, which uses 32-bit addresses and provides approximately 4.3 billion addresses. The two protocols are not designed to be interoperable, complicating the transition to IPv6.

Read more: How to Prepare for IPv6 DDoS attack

Network Security Threats: Improve Threat Detection

Do you have less hair now than you did when you first realized you need a SIEM? Do you avoid any meetings or emails that are about yet another issue with your SIEM? If SIEM challenges are causing you to hide under your desk, then continue reading.

At Cybriant, we get it. We speak to clients every day that are frustrated, angry, and hate having a SIEM in general. Here’s the thing though, a properly tuned SIEM that is managed by security people that have the right experience and expertise can help your organization tremendously.

Your organization needs cyber threat detection and response, it’s not a wish-list item anymore. It’s a must-have. But, many organizations think they don’t have the time, money, or resources to be able to properly do the cyber threat detection, analysis, and response that comes along with having a SIEM.

Do you agree with these? Check out the “5 SIEM Challenges that Cause the Most Stress.”

These days, working in a SOC (Security Operations Center) is not easy. According to the recent Cybersecurity Insiders Threat Hunting Report, which gathered insights from the Information Security Community on LinkedIn, detection of advanced threats remains the #1 challenge for SOCs (55 percent), followed by lack of security expertise (43 percent). 76 percent of respondents feel that not enough time is spent searching for emerging and advanced threats in their SOC. Lack of budget (45 percent) remains the top barrier to SOCs who have not yet adopted a threat-hunting platform.

Cybersecurity professionals are already challenged with the daily task of defending against the increasing number of security threats, and now the severity of those attacks has increased. Nearly 52% of organizations have experienced at least a doubling in security attacks. Over 28% of respondents say that the severity of the cyber-attacks has increased by at least 2 times in the past year.

Top Cyber Security Websites of 2022

Check out more stats at “3 Steps to Improve Network Security Threat Detection.”

A Security Operations Center (SOC) and a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) are two completely different species.

Check out the differences and how they work together to protect you from network security threats at “SIEM SOC: Your SIEM and Our SOC Working Together as One.”

Many of us have learned through our Fitbit that we’re not sleeping enough, exercising enough, or eating correctly. It’s the same scenario with continuous network monitoring, although instead of tracking your health, it monitors your organization’s security posture.

There are typically 5 critical cyber controls when it comes to continuous network monitoring. Read more here: Continuous Network Monitoring like a…Fitbit?

It’s 2018 and the spotlight is on if you are employed in any information security position. Your executive team, the board, your boss – any corporate stakeholder – wants to be sure that you have everything under control when it comes to cyber threat management. Communication about the tools you are using for cyber threat management will be key when the spotlight is on you.

No matter what regulatory compliance rules you are under, you will need certain cybersecurity monitoring tools. But, do you just have the tools or are you using them to your organization’s advantage? The cyber threat management tools we discuss will help take advantage of your compliance rules.

5 Tools to Simplify Cyber Threat Management

Network Security Threats: Start with a Cyber Security Assessment

The goal of a risk assessment is for an organization to understand “the cybersecurity risk to organizational operations (including mission, functions, image, or reputation), organizational assets, and individuals” – NIST Cybersecurity Framework

Find out more in the article, “5 Key Reasons You Need a Cyber Security Assessment.”

Network Security Threats: Industry Focus

Legal Industry Network Security Threats

Law firms must understand the importance of cybersecurity in their practice. Attorneys, in general, accumulate highly sensitive and personal information from each client – including corporations. That information, along with the mobility needed to carry data from the client to the courtroom, makes mobile security increasingly important.

Here are the top three reasons hackers target law firms:

  1. Large firms, especially those with over 100 lawyers, are targets because of the availability of large quantities of valuable and quality documents. By targeting law firms, they can quickly access such information as technical secrets, business strategies, and financial data for numerous clients.
  2. By handling the important information, Law firms provide a quick detour around the information of little value. The information that attorneys have access to is high-value information, which is more selective and valuable to hackers. By skipping the corporation and targeting their law firm, they more easily access the high-value data.
  3. Data security hasn’t traditionally been a priority at law firms. Larger law firms move at a fast pace and need access to information quickly. This means law firms may have sloppy or no data security practices in place.

https://www.cybriant.com/legal/

Manufacturing Network Security Threats

Manufacturers use advanced production processes that are often patented and extremely valuable to those companies. Opportunistic hackers target those production processes daily. Since there are often no manufacturing security safeguards, it is not difficult for even the most inexperienced hacker to find their way into your system.

The manufacturing sector is now one of the most frequently hacked industries. Automotive manufacturers are the top targeted manufacturing sub-industry, accounting for almost 30% of the total attacks against the manufacturing industry. Chemical manufacturers were the second-most targeted sub-industry.

https://www.cybriant.com/manufacturing/

Telecommunications Network Security Threats

Consumers are migrating to VOIP. The speed and storage are necessary grow year after year. Telecom solutions require unique protocols. These protocols require security controls. Hackers still pose a major risk to companies. According to PWC’s latest survey and analysis, only 50% of telecom companies have a security strategy for cloud computing.

“As telecoms pivot toward a more digital future, they will very likely encounter entirely new types of cybersecurity risks to data, applications, and networks.”  – according to the findings from The Global State of Information Security® Survey.

The Financial Industry’s Biggest Threat

Losing money to cyber criminals is the financial industry’s biggest threat today. Billions of dollars have been lost in 2022 alone due to cyber security incidents. This money is unrecoverable and can be blamed on one thing – poor cybersecurity practices. The money goes straight to the pockets of hackers so they can build bigger and better ways to hack and steal our money. Read More

 

Cyber Security Solutions Every Organization Needs

Combat Network Security Threats with Managed SIEM

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Types of Network Security Threats and How to Combat Them

Types of Network Security Threats and How to Combat Them

by | Aug 22, 2017

If you’re interested in the types of network security threats and how to combat them, you’re in the right spot. We’ll discuss a tried and true method to create a solid foundation for your network security. 

What’s keeping you up at night? Is it hackers, insider threats, malware, or phishing? Maybe there are a few new types of network security threats that you haven’t heard of yet? You never know!

Even the most secure organization may have pitfalls that allow something to slip through the cracks. Consider Equifax and THE most talked about the breach of 2017 that could have been prevented so easily with a proper patching policy.

The fact of the matter is that the bad guys are constantly trying to catch us. You can train your employees all you want, but there’s still a chance that an employee may not be able to identify an extremely sophisticated phishing email. Phishing email creators are getting GOOD! These guys take anything from celebrity news, worldwide sporting events like the Olympics or the World Cup, or something as personal as W-2 information around tax time to make sure you will click on their email. Even the CEO of KnowBe4 recently received a phishing attack that seemed to be from his accountant.

Related: The Financial Industry’s Biggest Threat

Types of Network Security Threats

There are typically four types of network security threats, and any particular threat may be a combination of the following:

Unstructured Threats

Unstructured threats often involve unfocused assaults on one or more network systems, often by individuals with limited or developing skills. The systems being attacked and infected are probably unknown to the perpetrator. These attacks are often the result of people with limited integrity and too much time on their hands. Malicious intent might or might not exist, but there is always indifference to the resulting damage caused to others.

Structured Threats

Structured threats are more focused on by one or more individuals with higher-level skills actively working to compromise a system. The targeted system could have been detected through some random search process, or it might have been selected specifically. The attackers are typically knowledgeable about network designs, security, access procedures, and hacking tools, and they can create scripts or applications to further their objectives. Structured attacks are more likely to be motivated by greed, politics, international terrorism, and government-sponsored attacks.

Internal Threats

Internal threats originate from individuals who have or have had authorized access to the network. This could be a disgruntled employee, an opportunistic employee, or an unhappy past employee whose access is still active. In the case of a past network employee, even if their account is gone, they could be using a compromised account or one they set up before leaving for just this purpose. Many surveys and studies show that internal attacks can be significant in both the number and the size of any losses.

External Threats

External threats are threats from individuals outside the organization with no authorized access to the systems. In trying to categorize a specific threat, the result could be a combination of two or more threats. The attack might be structured from an external source, but a serious crime might have one or more compromised employees on the inside actively furthering the endeavor.
(Source)

Top Cyber Security Websites of 2022

 

There are many different examples of each type of network security threat. According to computerweekly.com, the top 5 corporate network security threats include:

  1. Viruses
  2. Virus Back Doors
  3. Application-specific hacks
  4. Phishing
  5. Blended Attacks

You have to be prepared at all times, for anything. Trust no one, don’t click on any emails. If you want your data to be completely secure, just toss it in a volcano. Don’t forget that you are also building a successful business while protecting your network security. There MIGHT be a better way…

Calculate Your Network Security Threat Risk

types of network security threats

Is your company secure? How can you tell? It isn’t easy, but there is a way – you just need something to compare yourself to.

Back in 1901, the US Government gave us something called NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

NIST focuses on recommending standards for various industries and other government agencies in a wide variety of areas. It is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce. From cybersecurity to mammograms and advanced manufacturing, innumerable technologies, services, and products rely upon NIST expertise, measurement, and standards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_of_Standards_and_Technology

More recently, NIST introduced the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. This voluntary Framework consists of standards, guidelines, and best practices to manage cybersecurity-related risk.  The Cybersecurity Framework’s prioritized, flexible, and cost-effective approach helps to promote the protection and resilience of critical infrastructure and other sectors important to the economy and national security.

types of network security threatsAccording to the NIST Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, Version 1.1, The Cybersecurity Framework is designed to reduce risk by improving the management of cybersecurity risk to organizational objectives. Ideally, organizations using the Framework will be able to measure and assign values to their risk along with the cost and benefits of steps taken to reduce risk to acceptable levels. The better an organization can measure its risk, costs, and benefits of cybersecurity strategies and steps, the more rational, effective, and valuable its cybersecurity approach and investments will be.

This is awesome news! But, this is also a lot of information and a lot to understand. Never fear, we have security consulting experts that can easily walk you through the process (as well as PCI, HIPAA, or any other necessary framework). For the sake of this article, and to understand where to begin, let’s start at the beginning according to NIST:

To manage cybersecurity risks, a clear understanding of the organization’s business drivers and security considerations specific to its use of technology is required. Because each organization’s risks, priorities, and systems are unique, the tools and methods used to achieve the outcomes described by the Framework will vary.

The Framework Core is a set of cybersecurity activities, desired outcomes, and applicable references that are common across critical infrastructure sectors. The Core presents industry standards, guidelines, and practices in a manner that allows for communication of cybersecurity activities and outcomes across the organization from the executive level to the implementation/operations level. The Framework Core consists of five concurrent and continuous Functions—Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. When considered together, these Functions provide a high-level, strategic view of the lifecycle of an organization’s management of cybersecurity risk. The Framework Core then identifies underlying key Categories and Subcategories – which are discrete outcomes – for each Function and matches them with example Informative References such as existing standards, guidelines, and practices for each Subcategory.

Related: The CEO’s Guide to Penetration Testing

Start from the Beginning: IDENTIFY

Identify – Develop an organizational understanding to manage cybersecurity risk to systems, people, assets, data, and capabilities.

The activities in the Identify Function are foundational for the effective use of the Framework. Understanding the business context, the resources that support critical functions, and the related cybersecurity risks enable an organization to focus and prioritize its efforts, consistent with its risk management strategy and business needs. Examples of outcome Categories within this Function include Asset Management; Business Environment; Governance; Risk Assessment; and Risk Management Strategy.

Identify

  • Asset Management: The data, personnel, devices, systems, and facilities that enable the organization to achieve business purposes are identified and managed consistent with their relative importance to organizational objectives and the organization’s risk strategy
  • Business Environment: The organization’s mission, objectives, stakeholders, and activities are understood and prioritized; this information is used to inform cybersecurity roles, responsibilities, and risk management decisions.
  • Governance: The policies, procedures, and processes to manage and monitor the organization’s regulatory, legal, risk, environmental, and operational requirements are understood and inform the management of cybersecurity risk.
  • Risk Assessment: The organization understands the cybersecurity risk to organizational operations (including mission, functions, image, or reputation), organizational assets, and individuals.
  • Risk Management Strategy: The organization’s priorities, constraints, risk tolerances, and assumptions are established and used to support operational risk decisions.
  • Supply Chain Risk Management: The organization’s priorities, constraints, risk tolerances, and assumptions are established and used to support risk decisions associated with managing supply chain risk. The organization has established and implemented the processes to identify, assess and manage supply chain risks.

Know Where You Are

We can help you begin at the beginning. We have two services that could potentially help with most of the items on the list. Our Real-time vulnerability management service will help you identify all the assets on your network. Many companies may not know all the devices on their networks, this is very common! Our risk assessment service can help you assess where you are, identify any gaps, and even help you with ongoing compliance requirements.

Ready to get started? Let’s go! Schedule time with us today to discuss your specific needs.

 

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