Have you ever received an email from a seemingly legitimate source, only to realize it was a phishing scam? Or perhaps your business fell victim to a ransomware attack, leaving you locked out of your own systems and at the mercy of cybercriminals.

These are just a couple of examples of the daily cybersecurity threats that businesses face. Every day, more than 2200 attacks happen on the internet. This means an attack every 39 seconds.

In fact, even some of the world’s largest corporations have fallen victim to cyberattacks in recent years, resulting in massive data breaches and costly damages. In 2023, cybercrime is expected to reach $8 trillion, with a projected increase to $10.5 trillion by 2025.

As technology continues to play an increasingly important role in business operations, the risk of cyber-attacks has become a major concern for businesses. Cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving, and businesses need to be aware of the risks they face and take appropriate measures to mitigate them. In this blog post, we will discuss the top 10 cybersecurity threats facing businesses in 2023.

The top 11 cybersecurity threats to watch out for in 2023

Cybersecurity threats come in many forms, including phishing attacks, malware, ransomware, and social engineering. In recent years, businesses have also faced attacks related to cryptocurrencies, such as cryptojacking, ransomware attacks demanding payment in cryptocurrency, and theft of cryptocurrency wallets. These attacks can have a devastating impact on a business, including loss of data, reputational damage, and financial loss.

Ransomware attacks

Ransomware attacks involve malware that encrypts a business’s data and demands payment in exchange for the decryption key. These attacks can be devastating, leading to loss of data and financial damage. In 2023, ransomware attacks are expected to become even more sophisticated, with attackers using artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve their targeting and increase the success rate of their attacks.

In 2022, 76% of organizations were attacked, 64% were infected, and only 50% got their data back after paying the ransom.

Businesses can protect themselves from ransomware attacks by regularly backing up their data and implementing tools for system monitoring and prevention of attacks. It’s also important to train employees to recognize phishing emails and suspicious links, implement multi-factor authentication, and have a reliable team of cybersecurity experts.

Social engineering

Social engineering attacks involve tricking employees into giving up sensitive information or taking actions that compromise a business’s security. These attacks can be difficult to detect and can cause significant harm. In 2023, social engineering attacks are expected to become even more sophisticated, with attackers using deepfake technology to create more convincing fake emails and other communications.

This is the most popular method of cyberattacks, and it’s used in 98% of attacks. Criminals use fear and uncertainty of their victims, that’s why newly hired employees are potentially the most susceptible.

To protect against social engineering attacks, businesses should implement regular cybersecurity training for employees, use multi-factor authentication, and limit access to sensitive information.

Insider threats

Insider threats involve employees or other insiders intentionally or accidentally causing harm to a business’s security. It can be difficult to detect these threats and they can come from different sources, including disgruntled employees, contractors, and partners. 

Insider threats can be particularly damaging to businesses, as insiders have access to sensitive information and systems. According to statistics, insider threats are the reason for 60% of data breaches. Over 66% of these incidents are attributed to the employee and associate negligence.

To protect against insider threats, businesses should implement strong access controls and monitoring, conduct regular background checks on employees and partners, and provide ongoing cybersecurity training to employees. 

Cryptojacking

Cryptojacking involves using a business’s computing resources to mine cryptocurrency without their knowledge or consent. This can lead to slow performance and increased costs for the business. Cryptojacking attacks have been on the rise in recent years, with attackers using a variety of methods to gain access to a business’s computing resources. In 2022 this kind of cyberattack was up 86% compared to 2021.

Cryptojacking attacks can occur through various means, including malware, browser-based mining scripts, and even physical access to a victim’s hardware. In some cases, attackers may simply deploy mining scripts on a website or ad network, which can then infect visitors’ devices with mining software. 

Cryptojacking is a general term if someone is specifically using malware to mine cryptocurrencies, this is called a cryptocurrency mining attack. In this attack, the attacker infects a system with malware that runs in the background, consuming CPU resources for mining.

Regular monitoring of your computing resources, using anti-malware software, and limiting access to computing resources is a must if you want to protect your business against this type of cyberattack.

Internet of Things (IoT) attacks 

IoT devices are becoming more common in businesses, but they also pose a significant security risk. These devices can be vulnerable to attacks and, once compromised, can be used to attack other devices on the network. According to Statista, there were 13.1 billion IoT devices in the world in 2022, and this number is expected to grow to 29 billion by 2030. Cybercriminals don’t waste their time too, last year, IoT malware was up 95% compared to the monthly average in 2021.

With billions of interconnected devices in use worldwide, a single vulnerability or security flaw could compromise a vast network of devices, leading to widespread disruption and even physical harm. For example, an attack on a hospital’s IoT-connected medical devices could put patient lives at risk, while an attack on a city’s smart traffic system could cause chaos on the streets.

To protect against IoT attacks, businesses should regularly update their IoT devices with the latest security patches, segment their network to limit the impact of an attack, implement strong access controls, and use monitoring tools that can help detect and prevent hacks.

Cloud security breaches

As more businesses move their operations to the cloud, the risk of cloud security breaches has increased. These breaches can lead to loss of data and reputational damage. 

Cloud security breaches have been on the rise in recent years, with attackers exploiting vulnerabilities in cloud infrastructure and applications. Almost half (45%) of data breaches happen in the cloud, and for 83% of companies such breaches are only a matter of time, according to IBM. 

You need to implement a series of measures to protect your company from cloud security breaches. These include using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, regularly updating and patching software, establishing access controls and permissions, encrypting data, having a comprehensive data backup and disaster recovery plan, monitoring and logging all activity in the cloud environment and training employees on best practices for cloud security.

Supply chain attacks

Supply chain attacks involve attacking a business through its suppliers or partners. These attacks can be difficult to detect and can cause significant damage. In 2023, supply chain attacks are expected to become more common, with attackers using new methods to gain access to a business’s network through their partners and suppliers. Supply chain attacks have been on the rise in recent years, with attackers using a variety of methods to gain access to a business’s network through their partners and suppliers. 

One of the biggest attacks happened in December 2020, SolarWinds attack, which affected multiple government agencies and businesses and was still affecting numerous users in late 2021. In 2021, the number of attacks rose 300% compared to 2020, and there were several high-profile supply chain attacks, including the SolarWinds attack, which affected multiple government agencies and businesses. 

To protect against supply chain attacks, conduct due diligence on vendors and suppliers, establish security requirements, regularly review and audit security measures, monitor your systems, and educate employees on identifying warning signs.

Credential stuffing attacks

Credential stuffing attacks involve using stolen login credentials to gain access to a business’s systems or applications. These attacks can be particularly damaging, as they can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data and potentially allow the attacker to move laterally throughout the network.

In 2019, the vast majority of web application attacks (over 80%) involved stolen credentials. Last year’s situation hasn’t improved, and the use of automation, ML, and AI made credential-stuffing attacks easier for cybercriminals. Because of that, online payment fraud is predicted to cost the e-commerce, airline ticketing, money transfer, and banking industries over $200 billion from 2020 to 2024.

The success of a credential-stuffing attack depends on the number of valid credentials that the attacker possesses and the number of websites or services that the stolen credentials work on. To protect against credential stuffing attacks, using strong, unique passwords for each online account and enabling multi-factor authentication where possible is important. Additionally, businesses can implement rate limiting on login attempts and use software that will monitor and block suspicious login activity.

DDoS attacks 

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are a common form of cyber attack that seeks to disrupt the availability of online services by overwhelming websites or servers with traffic. Attackers can leverage a network of compromised devices, known as a botnet, to launch the attack. The result is that legitimate users are unable to access the targeted website or server, which can have serious consequences for businesses that rely on online services to conduct their operations.

In 2022, there was a 74% increase in the number of DDoS attacks. The finance, telecommunication, and retail industries were most frequently attacked (34%, 26%, and 17%). 

 To protect against DDoS attacks, businesses can implement measures such as traffic filtering (deploying firewalls or intrusion prevention systems, load balancing (distributing traffic across multiple servers), and DDoS mitigation services (they detect and filter out malicious traffic before it reaches the target network).

Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs)

Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) are sophisticated, long-term cyber attacks designed to remain undetected for extended periods. APTs are often carried out by nation-state actors, criminal organizations, or hacktivists and can involve multiple stages, including reconnaissance, exploitation, and exfiltration of data. APTs can be difficult to detect because they are specifically tailored to the target organization and can employ various methods to avoid being detected.

According to market research, the advanced persistent threat market was valued at $5.9 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.5% from 2022 to 2030, reaching a projected value of $30.9 billion.

To protect against APTs, businesses can implement employee training so that they can identify and report suspicious activity, limit the lateral movement of attackers across their network by segregating networks, and regularly update and patch software and systems to reduce the risk of APTs exploiting known vulnerabilities. Also, companies can use machine learning algorithms that will detect any suspicious activity.

Zero-day exploits

Zero-day exploits refer to vulnerabilities in software that are unknown to the software vendor and can be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized access to systems or data. These vulnerabilities are known as “zero-day” because the software vendor has zero days to patch the vulnerability before it is exploited. Zero-day exploits can be particularly dangerous because they are often not detected by traditional security measures, such as antivirus software or firewalls. 

Research conducted by the Ponemon Institute reveals that in the past two years, almost half of all organizations experienced a data breach. Of these breaches, 62% were zero-day attacks, indicating that the organizations were unaware of the vulnerability before the attack occurred.

To protect against zero-day exploits, businesses should prioritize regular software updates and patches, implement access controls and network segmentation, and monitor their systems for any unusual or suspicious activity. 

It’s also essential to use security solutions such as intrusion detection and prevention systems, firewalls, and antivirus software to minimize the potential damage caused by zero-day exploits.

Conclusion

In conclusion, businesses face a variety of cybersecurity threats in 2023, ranging from traditional attacks such as phishing to newer threats such as attacks using deepfakes. To protect against these threats, businesses should implement a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy that includes regular security assessments, employee training, and the use of advanced security technologies.

It’s also important to have a reliable partner that will improve the security of your systems and help you prevent any possible breaches. If you need any kind of cybersecurity support, you need to track down stolen funds or improve the security of your systems, feel free to contact us. Our services meet the needs of clients of all types and sizes, and our professionals have a proven experience in cybersecurity for traditional industries and new ones, such as blockchain and crypto.