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Technology has done a lot of great things for businesses – particularly when it comes to online interactions.
The use of predictive analytics and Big Data analysis have allowed companies to target their audience more effectively and nurture better leads. Access to Big Data information allows businesses to personalize their customers’ experiences and keep them engaged online.
But this technology also has a dark side as it has left many companies quite vulnerable to data leaks and cyberattacks.
Over 60% of all businesses have experienced some sort of cyberattack and there have been 126% more data breaches since 2017, with 44 occurring every single second of the day.
If your business relies on data in any capacity (which virtually every single business with a computer does), then you need to be absolutely sure that your systems are protected against hacks and leaks. Not only could this cost your business lots of money to recover – it could also destroy your reputation and the trust of your customers.
If you start researching all of the ways to protect from online vulnerabilities, you may either come away totally overwhelmed or unsure of what exactly to do – thanks to the often vague advice that is given on data security.
Furthermore, most companies tend to focus on only the most common types of cyberattacks, such as malware, phishing schemes, and SQL injections. However, there are many more (sneakier) attacks that are harder to detect and deflect.
So, let’s break down these kinds of cyberattacks and go over the ways that you can protect your business’s data from them.
Cross-Site Request Forgery
The Cross-Site Request Forgery or CSRF is kind of like the “secret shoppers” of cyber-attacks – except of course it has much more malicious intentions than a scathing review. During a CSRF, a hacker will essentially act like a logged-in customer and execute an unwanted action.
This allows the hacker to act like a real customer, giving them access to information and allowing them to submit requests within the account. Often this will either be a transfer of private/sensitive information or even a fund transfer if a bank account is hacked. These can be quite difficult to spot as a hacker will make a slight change to the code request.
This kind of data breach often occurs when a customer creates an online account but does not log off properly or has an insecure password. Although these kinds of leaks are somewhat out of your control, it is still important that businesses take matters into their own hands to protect themselves from any liability.
First, you should set specific password requirements (such as including a mix of letters, numbers, and symbols) or request customers to change their passwords every few months.
You may also want to offer personalized security functions for customer accounts so certain requests require additional security measures, such as multiple passwords or ReCAPTCHA protocols.
You can also implement custom security policies to filter sensitive page requests and functions to make it more difficult for hackers to complete these actions. One popular prevention method is using challenge tokens, also called anti-CSRF tokens.
This creates a hidden token for a specific webpage in post request data so that if a form is submitted by a different user, it will be invalidated.
Buffer Overflow
If you’ve ever worked at an office with a shared printer, you will be able to understand how Buffer Overflow attacks work. If multiple people are sending print requests to one printer at the same time, more often than not, none or only some of those requests will actually go through. Many times, the printer will simply become overloaded and stop working.
This is how Buffer Overflow attacks work, too. Essentially, hackers will overwhelm the server by sending long input streams continuously to overflow certain parts of the server’s memory until the system crashes. Hackers can then input their code into the system which results in a full server compromise.
The best protection against a buffer overflow is to use a code language that does not allow for them, such as Java, Python, or .NET. These languages do not require special checks to mitigate overflow vulnerabilities, therefore preventing them from happening in the first place.
If you are unable to change the coding language of your website, then you will need to use more secure practices when it comes to strcopy and strcat functions. These two functions will allow for buffer overflows to occur because they will write past a buffer’s limits. Instead, it is better to use the strn- versions which prevent writing past a buffer’s limits.
Backdoor Trojan and Shell Attacks
Just as the name implies, a Backdoor attack allows hackers to enter into your server in a more roundabout way that gives them unrestricted access to all of your data. Backdoor attacks are often inserted as a standalone file or as one short line of code, making it quite difficult to spot and prevent.
Plus, if one hacker is able to get through due to this vulnerability, it increases the likelihood of multiple attacks.
These malicious pieces of code are called Trojans or Shells, and they are, unfortunately, about as difficult to remove as they are to find in the first place. Most detection software is unable to identify these errors as they are often hidden through code obfuscation or multiple levels of encryption.
Your first line of defense is to create a backup of your entire database. These types of hacks will also commonly compromise your site’s core theme, allowing attackers to slip in behind 404 error messages. So, these compromised files need to be detected and removed, which is why you will need a backup of the original file.
In this case, the best offense is a strong defense.
To protect your site from these attacks in the first place, you will need to put in a backdoor protection solution to intercept requests from malicious shells and Trojan attacks.
Cross-Site Scripting Attacks
It is not only your business’ website that stands at risk of an attack – web apps are also vulnerable through Cross-Site Scripting or XSS attacks. This is similar to a CSRF except that malicious script is inserted into an app’s code. However, the intent here is often to compromise an app’s user rather than the host.
So, say that a user download’s your company’s app – which unfortunately has been attacked. Once a user logs in and uses the app, their device is compromised and the hacker can gain access to that data, such as financial information or passwords to other accounts.
The best form of protection here is a web application firewall that employs multiple methods to filter, identify, and block these requests.
Zero-Day Exploit
Think of your website’s security as a wall that is built around it to protect from outsider attacks. Over time, pieces of this wall may break down, especially if they are getting constantly barraged with malicious pieces of code.
This can cause security flaws that need to be patched up; however, if they are not fixed in time, it could let a hacker slip through the cracks. Smart hackers will create code that is specifically designed to target these vulnerabilities, and when they are successful, it is known as a zero-day exploit.
Furthermore, if a company creates their own website (rather than designing one through a hosting service), many of these flaws may not be apparent right away. This provides hackers with the opportunity to attack before the developer has a chance to correct the issue – which is why this is referred to as a zero-day attack.
Oftentimes, these attacks are deployed through common phishing schemes, such as compromised email messages or attachments. In fact, about 90% of all cyberattacks are a result of human error, such as an employee downloading a corrupted file onto their work computer.
So, one of the most straightforward forms of protection is teaching your staff ways to identify potential attacks.
Your website’s current security systems should be regularly updated to prevent these vulnerabilities from occurring in the first place. Developers should also be constantly testing and monitoring to detect any potential weaknesses by using vulnerability scanning software and malware signature checkers.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, you can never rest totally assured that your website is impenetrable from cyberattacks.
Hackers are constantly coming up with new systems to take advantage of these vulnerabilities – so truly one of the best ways to protect your business is by staying alert on how these cyberattacks occur, what they do, and how to protect your server from any risks.
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