Introduction

Cyber-attacks have become far more common in recent years. Any company that is the victim of a cyber-attack will be harmed both directly and indirectly. Cyber-attacks are becoming more common, wreaking havoc on the Internet. 

According to Herjavec Group research, cybercrime will cost organizations between $ 5 and $6 trillion per year by 2021. It’s becoming worse every year, and it’s affecting both private and public-sector businesses. Cybercrime is affecting the way people behave online, and it is becoming more of a problem every day.

What is Cyber Attack?

A Cyber Attack is carried out in several different ways. This is a calculated attack on your computer and network. Tasks like tampering with your data and capturing your info are completed here. 

For this, the cyber attacker employs a variety of programs and steals data from businesses and organizations. As a result, we must endure the loss.

Methods of Cyber Attack –

• It steals your personal information and data.
• Using the Internet, they steal your money.
• The malware performs phishing and spamming, among other things.
• Take the password you’ve provided them.
• Intrusion into a private system
• He enters his information into the webpage.
• Abuse of text messages
• Unauthorized access to the IP address is created.

Common types of Cyberattacks:

Malware

Malware, which includes spyware, ransomware, viruses, and worms, is a term used to characterize malicious software. Malware can infiltrate a network just by exploiting a flaw, such as when a user clicks on a malicious link or email attachment, which installs harmful software. Malware can perform the following once it has gained access to the system:

• Access to critical network components is disabled (ransomware)
• Malware or other potentially hazardous software is installed.
• By sending data from the hard disc, it gathers information invisibly (spyware)
• Specific components are disrupted, rendering the system unworkable

Phishing

It is a practice of sending fraudulent emails that can appear or come from a legitimate source, also as a trap. The whole purpose for them is to steal sensitive data such as credit cards, passwords, and login information from various websites or to infect the victim’s computer with malware. It is becoming a more widespread cyber threat.

Man-in-the-middle attack

Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks, also known as eavesdropping attacks, occur when an attacker inserts himself into a two-party transaction. After interrupting the traffic, they can filter and steal data and misuse it.

There are two common entrance points for MitM attacks:

1. When using unprotected public Wi-FiAttackers can put themselves between a visitor’s device and the network, and the visitor unwittingly transmits all information to the attacker.
2. Once the malware has infiltrated a device; the attacker can install software that will process all of the victim’s data.

Denial-of-service attack

When there is a denial-of-service assault, traffic is flooded into systems or programs and networks to exhaust resources and bandwidth as per their will. Hence genuine requests are not approved by the system. This kind of attack can also be launched using many compromised devices. This is also known as a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.

SQL injection

It occurs when an attacker injects malicious code into servers that use SQL by forcing the server to divulge information it would not usually reveal. An attacker might perform a SQL injection by typing malicious code into a search field on a susceptible website.

Zero-day exploit

A zero-day exploit can occur after a network vulnerability has been publicly disclosed but before a patch or solution has been applied. During this period, attackers will focus on the publicly revealed vulnerability. The discovery of zero-day vulnerabilities necessitates constant alertness.

DNS Tunneling

DNS tunneling communicates non-DNS traffic through port 53 using the DNS protocol. It uses DNS to send HTTP and other protocol traffic. DNS tunneling is used for a variety of acceptable reasons. However, there are several reasons to employ DNS Tunneling VPN services for nefarious purposes. It can be used to mask outbound traffic like DNS, allowing data to be shared over the Internet to be hidden. DNS queries are altered for malicious purposes to exfiltrate data from a hacked system to the attacker’s infrastructure. It can also be used for callbacks from the attacker’s infrastructure to a compromised system for command and control.

How cyber-Attack Can Ripple a Company’s Operations?

An organization may suffer financial losses as well as data damage as a result of such attacks. This may result in long-term losses for us. When an assault affects a large number of people, it has an impact on the business. As a result, both the leading builder and the third parties fall.

According to researchers, “ripple incidents” often include a breach of one primary victim that results in losses at other third parties downstream. Loss occurrences at additional fourth-, fifth-, and subsequent parties are frequently experienced as a result of the impacts. A recent study commissioned by RiskRecon by the Scientia Institute looks into the steady rise of these multi-party attacks and the scope of collateral harm they cause across enterprises.

According to the American Medical Collection Agency (AMCA), cyber-attacks have stolen the personal data of 24 million people in the United States. A variety of sources we get to know are gathered from various sources, including health care organizations and other support organizations. Such companies take people’s personal data through cyber-attacks. Companies, as well as ordinary persons, must share the brunt of the loss.

The findings of Scientia show how financial losses can swiftly escalate as an incident progresses. According to studies, the financial cost from ripple events is 13 times more than that from single-party attacks. The average multi-party breach affects ten companies in addition to the original victim; however, the most severe incidence affected 131 companies in addition to the initial target. And these attacks are becoming more common: since 2008, researchers have seen a 20 percent annual increase.

Wade Baker, a partner and co-founder of the Cyentia Institute, adds, “We’ve researched breaches for a long time, but not from a ripple impact standpoint.” Advisen’s Cyber Loss Database, which contains over 90,000 cyber occurrences from publically verified sources, was used to inform the study. The database connects firms that have been impacted by the same occurrence and keeps track of damages. Since 2008, Cyentia has monitored 813 circumstances involving three or more entities. Researchers found 512 companies that were central to an incident and 4,180 that suffered losses after accounting for repeat victims.

According to Kelly White, founder, and CEO of RiskRecon, firms that gather data from or share data with a target organization frequently are unaware that a breach has occurred. “It’s not like we know the consequences of a data loss catastrophe on the first day,” he says. “It can take a lot of time to unwind and figure out who is affected.”

While figures for 2017, 2018, and 2019 are still being compiled, researchers expect that the number of multi-party breaches will continue to rise.

The most typical sources of downstream loss, according to researchers, are data aggregators and processors. The business support (24.4 percent) and finance (23.7 percent) industries are responsible for over half of all ripple occurrences.

“If one of them is hacked or has a problem, it may affect all of the parties that send it data,” Baker adds. It’s easy to get stuck up in the origins of these breaches; risk managers may learn more if they study the ripple impact.

When researchers looked at where the downstream consequences of business support-focused attacks went, they discovered that they mainly affected credit intermediation and related activities, but they also hit professional services and ambulatory healthcare services. Business support organizations and professional services are frequently caught in the aftermath of security incidents affecting credit bureaus. Business support, credit activity, ambulatory health care, and publication are all affected by attacks on professional services organizations.

The Economic Cost of Cyber Attack

Cyber attacks frequently result in significant financial damage as a result of:

• \Information theft from a company
• Financial information theft (e.g., bank details, passwords, or payment card details)
• Money theft causes commerce to be disrupted (e.g., inability to carry out transactions online)
• Business or contract loss

Businesses that have had a cyber breach will always have to pay and fix the compromised systems,  devices, and networks,

Reputational Damage

Customer relationships require trust as Cyber attacks can harm your company’s brand and diminish your clients’ trust in you. As a result, there’s a chance that:

• Customers are leaving.
• Profits are reduced due to a decrease in sales.

Reputational harm influences your suppliers, as well as your relationships with partners, investors, and other stakeholders in your company.

Legal Consequences of Cyber Breach

Data protection and privacy rules require you to keep track of the security of any personal information you have on your employees or clients. You could face fines and regulatory punishments if sensitive data is unintentionally or intentionally compromised and you fail to implement proper security measures.

Different Ways to Prevent Cyber Attacks-

• One should educate your employees on how to protect themselves against cyber-attacks.
• Keep the software and system you’re using up to date.
• For networks, use Ensure Endpoint Protection, which acts as a bridge between devices. Mobile devices, tablets, and laptops are all protected by this software.
• Set up a firewall on your computer.
• Do not open any strange files or copy any unknown emails.
• Make a complete backup of your data so that you can recover it if it is taken.
• Keep your passwords strong and update them regularly.
• Control access to your system and applications by designing them in such a way.
• Ensure the safety of your wireless network.

Conclusion

“Outsourced services are ripe for the picking,” White argues. “If you compromise a service provider, you can gain access to hundreds of thousands of documents from a variety of businesses.”

He explains, “Companies need to know who their third parties are; who they’re sharing data with.” They should also keep an eye on public channels, such as news stories and regulatory filings, for disclosures when a vendor has been hacked.

Also Read: Key Steps for Recovering from A Cyberattack