Security

Thinking like a hacker: Protect your company from cyberattacks

Having an effective cybersecurity strategy can be complicated, with the threat of hackers and malware increasing in volume and proliferating every industry. Cybercriminals infiltrate your computer and smartphone to steal money, information, or even control over your system. It is more complex than ever to protect an organization’s IT network infrastructure.

Cybercriminals use a wide variety of methods for hacking into networks. These may include using banking Trojans on unpatched Windows systems or directly infecting the device with ransomware. Whatever the chosen tactics are, the point is that there are vulnerabilities that take a lot of research and resources for security professionals to fix, making it challenging to stay ahead of them all.
And that’s a problem because these kinds of attacks can spread like wildfire. Anyone who writes malicious programs is basically hacking based on a knowledge of how to exploit the weaknesses present in machines, networks and operating systems. If you’re not additionally keeping an eye on the perpetrators or taking the time to implement preventative measures — or if you’re not following cybersecurity news at all — you’re just asking for trouble.
How long does a cybercriminal’s timeline usually take? What are their moves? And what tools do they usually employ? To answer these questions, it helps to think like a hacker.
To enter and disrupt a network, hackers employ several methods and tradecraft along a typical timeline. By being familiar with these techniques, you will be able to detect the process and put in place safeguards to prevent infiltration.
Knowing how cybercriminals work and travel around networks is crucial to understanding how they operate. The stages and human behaviors that a person must go through in attacking an organization’s IT infrastructure are included in this procedure.
1. Planning: Infiltration begins with planning, in which hackers pick their target, do research, and select attack techniques.

2. Intrusion: A cybercriminal can penetrate your networks using a variety of tactics. They might send a focused spear-phishing email to steal a user’s credentials, or they could take advantage of unpatched software vulnerabilities.

3. Enumeration: Upon access into the network, the intruder must determine which account they used, what that profile has access to, where they may go, and who they must become to accomplish their mission while remaining unnoticed.

4. Spreading the damage across a network: Gaining access to one account is significantly less profitable than controlling an entire network. To overtake an entire network, the hacker must be persistent, constantly attacking additional accounts and devices in order to steal sensitive data, set up their persistence to re-enter the network, and spread malware or toolkits.

5. The end goal: Cybercriminals will proceed on with activities such as data exfiltration, ransomware deployment, and network destruction once they have successfully acquired access to the network and systems.
Here are a handful of the most prevalent hacking techniques:

-Phishing: When cybercriminals impersonate a legitimate account or person who already has access to data, they can obtain access to sensitive information.
-Malware: The installation of malicious software may be used to steal data, disable accounts, and propagate it to other devices on the network.
-URL Redirection: Users are led to an unsecured website in order to collect personal information. These websites trick victims into entering their credentials, credit card information, or other personal data.
-Brute Force Attacks: Attempting to guess credentials continuously and methodically in order to obtain access to a user’s account.
-SQL Injection Attacks: To get access to your website or system, hackers will write code.
Some will try to delete data using this code, while others will try to steal user information.
-DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) Attacks: These occur when numerous sources overwhelm a targeted system, rendering it unusable. These operations are generally launched from machines that have been hacked as part of an existing system.

Early Detection of a Breach
Cybercriminals typically use methods to avoid alerting toolsets like endpoint detection and response (EDR), antivirus solutions, and perimeter defenses or firewalls in the early phases of a breach. As a result, it may be challenging to identify when hackers are at work since they are using fundamental procedures that the business and its workers utilize on a daily basis to carry out their duties. It may take weeks or months to detect a successful breach, and much longer to repair the damage.
What can an organization do to avoid and respond to a data breach?
Multi-factor authentication (MFA), frequent software patching, and staff training are all excellent places to start when it comes to cybersecurity. When a breach does occur, the main aim is to be able to identify the intrusion, enumeration, and lateral spread phases as soon as possible to prevent a hacker from achieving their ultimate objective. Many companies are utilizing advanced technologies like a Security Operations Center (SOC) and Managed Detection and Response (MDR) to be able to stop hackers in the earliest stages before any significant damage or data loss occurs.
In Summary

With cyberattacks increasing daily and growing more advanced, having layered cybersecurity procedures in place is more essential than ever. Although no one solution can prevent a hacker from abusing your network, having several preventive measures and “tripwires” in place will reduce your chances of being the next cyber assault victim.

Be very careful! Personal information can be leaked if 14 apps are on the phone:

14 apps in the Google Play Store have leaked users' personal information. This is according to a report by Cybernews.com, which monitors the online world.

14 apps in the Google Play Store have leaked users' personal information. This is according to a report by Cybernews.com, which monitors the online world. In that case, experts suggest deleting those apps immediately. According to the report of Cyber ​​News, there is no malware in those 14 apps of Google Play Store. But due to the misconfiguration of Firebase, the personal information of Android users is being leaked online through those apps. Apps that are extremely popular and have been downloaded 140 million times worldwide. Note that Google provides a Firebase platform so that developers can add a variety of features to the app without much effort.

What information may be leaked?

According to the report, information such as usernames, email addresses, real names of users' various accounts may be leaked. Not only that, the report alleges that if anyone knows the 'URL', they can easily enter the database. No permission required.Experts fear that the 'URL' can often be extracted by guessing. As a result, it can become dangerous. However, experts say that since there is a risk of leaking users' personal information due to a misconfiguration of Firebase, the error can be corrected. Only then will those apps be protected. Until then, of course, those apps can have a negative impact on customers.

Which apps?

According to cyber news reports, apps like Universal TV Remote Control, Find My Kids: Child GPS watch app & Phone Tracker, Hybrid Warrior: Dungeon of the Overlord, Remote for Roku are at risk. However, Google did not respond to a request for comment.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Time for your safety check

Sure, it's a cheesy, made-up event. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't lock down your accounts.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and a good time to batten down your online accounts.

Cybersecurity Awareness Month! One of October's many made-up observances -- there's also Bat Appreciation Month and International Walk to School Month -- the occasion is a needed, if somewhat artificial, reminder to make sure you're being cybersmart. Being cybersmart means setting solid and unique passwords for all your online accounts, enabling two-factor authentication whenever possible and doing your best to keep as much of your private information, well, private. If Cybersecurity Awareness Month prompts you to revisit your cybersafety, the holiday is worth celebrating. The sophistication and rate of automated password cracking, data breaches and phishing schemes continue to increase, says Guemmy Kim, Google's director of account security and safety. "The reality is passwords alone are no longer effective at keeping users safe," she said in an email interview. Two-factor authentication is a must, she added. Another important reason for checking your cybersafety: Many of your accounts are linked together, a fact hammered home by the massive outage that shut down Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp for a big chunk of Monday. Some people use Facebook to log in to other apps and sites. If Facebook goes down, those can be tough to get into. There are data privacy implications to linking accounts, too. That means you need to lock down those accounts, and figure out what other information is tied to them. And, ideally, set up new app and site logins that aren't tied to a social media network. In celebration of Cybersecurity Awareness Month, here are some easy ways to keep your online accounts safe.

Use strong passwords

Passwords need to be long, random and unique. About 15 characters will protect you from most password-cracking software. To make them easier to remember, you can use a passphrase of three unrelated words strung together, such as "GrandmafootballCheeseburger" or "lamppostParisHotsauce." Avoid personal details that can easily be guessed. Your dog's name, the model of your first car or the university you graduated from may be important to you, but they're bad password material. Don't recycle your passwords and use them on multiple accounts -- no matter how good you think they are. That way, you limit the fallout if one of your passwords is compromised. If all that seems daunting, sign up for a password manager. It'll keep all your logins organized and secure. Using the password generator and manager built into your browser is OK, too. Though most browsers will require you to sign in to get the full list of saved passwords, individual ones will autofill, depending on the browser. Some of the in-browser options have been clunky in the past, but they've gotten better. For example, you can now use Google's Chrome browser to autofill passwords into apps on an iPhone. Chrome's password auto generation feature will soon work on iOS apps. Google says it'll be similar to how Autofill with Google currently works on Android devices.

Always use 2FA when available

If your password does get compromised, a second layer of protection will go a long way toward protecting your account. Two-factor authentication, also called 2FA, multifactor authentication and two-step verification, requires that someone trying to access your account enter a second form of identification before getting in. 2FA works in a host of different ways. It could be a code generated by an app, a biometric like a fingerprint or Face ID, or a physical security key that you insert into your device. Yes, 2FA slows down the log-in process. But if 2FA is available, turning it on is a must. Google said earlier this year that it would start auto-enrolling user accounts in 2FA. On Tuesday it said it expects to add 150 million Google users to the 2FA ranks by the end of the year. An additional 2 million YouTube users will be required to turn 2FA on within the same timeframe. To make things easier, the company has also built security keys into its Android devices. With this building in of keys, a user doesn't have to think about two-factor authentication as much and is therefore more likely to use it, Kim says. "Ultimately, we want to get our users to a place where authentication is seamless," she said. One word of warning: If you can, avoid 2FA systems that text a code to your smartphone. Why? SIM swapping, in which cybercriminals steal your phone number by calling your wireless provider and having it switch your number to a new phone and SIM card. It does happen, and if criminals take over your phone number, they'll get that text message, too.

Avoid using social media as a universal login

Signing in with the Facebook, LinkedIn or Google account you're already logged in to on your phone or computer can be incredibly easy. That convenience, however, comes at a cost. As we saw earlier this week, if your sign-in service goes down, like Facebook did, you may have to find a different way into your connected non-Facebook accounts. In terms of security, it isn't a big leap to say that the Facebooks and Googles of the world probably have better security than that little game or app you're trying to access, but there have been hacks. The more accounts you tie to your Facebook or Google account, the more eggs you're putting in the proverbial basket. The main sacrifice, however, comes in the form of privacy. Using the giant companies' services to log in to apps gives the big guys access to even more of your data, because they can see what's collected by the apps. The apps, in turn, can learn more about you by requesting access to things like your Facebook profile, friends list or contact information. While Facebook and other companies do give you some control over what data the apps can collect, it's up to you to keep an eye on those requests and decline them when you don't think they're justified.