While technology continues to improve the efficiency of business infrastructure and accelerate service delivery, it also introduces new ways of undermining businesses and threatening their continued operation. The 2018 Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report states that 7 out of 10 companies have failed in their cyber-readiness evaluation that involves the cyber priorities developed by a company and their processes and technologies. One explanation why companies fail is that they do not adapt to the new cybersecurity environment.

New companies and organizations should be mindful of the ever-evolving cyber-threats environment and change their paradigms to thrive accordingly. Small businesses with less than 100 workers affected by cybercrime incur losses from $24,000 to $63,000, while businesses with 1000 or more employees can expect to pay damages of $1 million. This doesn’t include the loss of customers as they lose confidence in the businesses following an attack and the damage to their products.

If businesses understood better the caliber of threats they face, they’d think more about their investment in cybersecurity.

Fileless Malware

The “fileless” nickname was acquired by fileless malware because it does not exist as files inside the hard disk. Attackers are programming fileless malware that occupies the RAM. Threat analysts have difficulty finding signs of this type of malware, as it does not leave crumbs on the drive. Fileless malware only becomes apparent when programmers order it to start an attack.

Cyber criminals often deploy fileless malware by injecting it into ATMs against banks. In addition the hackers gain control of the cash machines. Another popular use hacker is delivery of payload for file-less malware. Fileless malware will unload ransomware to the device with the machine owner completely unaware of what is going on.

Crypto-Malware

The rise of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin’s explosive growth in 2017 have got the attention of cybercriminals. Malware engineers have created malware that can potentially mine cryptocurrency when an infected computer’s browser goes over the Web. Though not specifically harmful, crypto-malware has proven destructive as it steals the processing power of a computer to mine cryptocurrency. The contaminated machine bogs down, so pulling up files and running programs becomes noticeably slower. Over time, the machine breaks down due to the drain caused by the crypto-malware.

Zero-Day Threats

Technology just off the bat isn’t fine. That software installs security holes in harbors, called vulnerabilities that hackers and cyber criminals can exploit. It’s called a zero-day threat when they detect a bug and exploit it before software developers can issue a patch to it. Once the hackers have the ball rolling and use the weakness of a system to deliver malware or inject malicious code which is a zero-day exploit. Imagine workers opening a text file for Word and then running ransomware on the machine.

Meltdown and Spectre

Meltdown and Spectre are vulnerabilities within processor chips. What is worthy of special mention for both flaws is that it is hard to defend against hackers willing to manipulate it, because there is an inherent flaw inside processors and it resides within such a low level of the device. Hackers and malware developers taking advantage of Meltdown and Spectre will be able to bypass current security measures with no problem. They will also gain access to restricted parts of the memory of a device and access sensitive information about the user.

IoT Malware

Homes and businesses must host their own smart worlds, sooner or later. We will use sensors to obtain temperature information, use lighting control software, and add energy-efficient cameras for security monitoring. The problem is that these smart devices ‘ software often gets loaded with vulnerabilities. Such vulnerabilities can be exploited by hackers to monitor these smart devices. Picture hackers shutting off office lights, preventing power from flowing through smart plugs or just staring at you from your smart surveillance system.

Banking Malware

Banking malware exists to collect users ‘ financial information and send the information to hackers so cyber criminals can steal the victims ‘ money. Some banking malware specifically targets mobile users because smartphones now allow people to transact online. What’s sly about these kinds of malware is that they are passed off by their creators as applications that you can download for Ios, like battery apps or games. This form of malware can work behind the scenes to steal your data while you are not aware of it..

Emotet, a banking malware version, is at present one of the most dangerous types of malware out there. Emotet will basically change its shape to avoid detection, and then reproduce itself within the device. It will switch by brute-forcing passwords from one machine to the next, to reach its next destination. This malware targets financial information, banking details and even your Bitcoin bags for a consumer.

Ransomware

Ransomware recently grew quickly through the ranks of malicious apps as one of the most prominent threats. What’s troubling about this ransomware is its ability to lock and unlock a device only after the user has paid a ransom. This part of the hi-jacking system makes ransomware extremely disruptive. The Cryptolocker strain’s biggest ransomware attack compromised about 250,000 computers and received $3 million for the ransomware developers. As you can imagine, attacks of this size can almost destroy critical infrastructure and systems.

Stegware

Stegware is increasing the scope of the malware attack. Hackers use steganography that includes hiding in another file, image, video, or message a malicious file. Only the most experienced and well-versed cybercriminals could potentially create their own stegware at one point. Cyber criminals, however, have become savvier in manufacturing them and making stegware accessible for even amateurs to use through kits in the Dark Web. In the coming years businesses will see more infections arising from these malicious files hidden under the mask of legitimate ones.

Phishing Email

A degree of data breach occurs due to human error, and the form of human error that results in a breach happens when an employee clicks on a phishing email. A phishing email frequently contains a payload such as ransomware or a trojan horse virus that causes havoc on the system immediately after it is open.

Ninety-seven percent of people can’t tell a phishing email from a legitimate email according to a 2015 McAfee study. For this reason organisations need to train employees to recognise and avoid clicking on these threats.

Advanced Persistent Threats

Eventually, companies should be wary of advanced ongoing risks. When apply to a cyber-attack they are what you would term a “long con”. Once they have successfully penetrate the network cyber criminals. Who are in APTs invest a lot of time casing their target. Once the information is collected, they can start storing and transmitting data back to their own servers. This specific type of attack is recurrent in the sense that it can occur with the victim remaining unaware for years. Hackers participating in APTs are committed practitioners and often work in groups to infiltrate their target organisation.