The average computer is targeted by malware six seconds after it boots up for the first time. For this reason, it is vital for your business to be prepared and protected. But the first step is to know your enemy.
Hackers want to steal, destroy, or copy your sensitive user information. And, to this end, they have formed many methods of infiltrating your security systems. It is called malware.
This article teaches you about the 3 types of malware with which hackers are most likely to use to infiltrate and steal your businesses data.
Malware is an overarching term that describes many different weapons that hackers use. Malware, at its core, is computer code. The thing that makes malware malicious is the intent with which the code is written.
Malware comes in many forms, like trojan horses, viruses, worms, and ransomware. Each form of malware accesses and manipulates sensitive information on the user's network, by different means.
The malware threat is very real and ever-present for your business security. Over 350,000 new malware programs are found every day.
The number of malware attacks in 2018 grew by over 100 million from 2017. And 2019 looks to be the worst year yet for small businesses cybersecurity risks.
These are the most common forms of malware that hackers use to attack small businesses:
Any IT department worth its salt instructs all employees to avoid clicking on any email links from unknown senders. It doesn't take a clever business owner to know that the most vulnerable part of your network is each individual employee. From the eyes of a hacker, they are all fish for the catching.
Most people are used to seeing spam emails in their inbox, but some of these emails are probably more than spam. Phishing scams pose as a trusted individual or organization, so the user feels comfortable clicking on an internal link.
As soon as you click on a phishing scam link in your email, the hacker catches their fish. When you click on the internal link, you unwittingly give access to the hackers malicious program to enter your network and carry out its purpose.
Lesser known to most users is that phone calls are an equally viable avenue for hackers to infiltrate your network. So, never call the phone numbers listed on a phishing scam email.
A Denial of Service (DoS) attack can crumble a small business that uses the internet for its day-to-day operations. A DoS attack directs so much traffic to a website that the site crashes.
This can happen naturally-like on US election night of 2016 when Canada's immigration website crashed from too much traffic. But DoS attacks are not natural occurrences.
A DoS attack can be carried out by just a few hackers and a program called a Low Orbit Ion Cannon. Using several computers, hackers can cause small businesses thousands, to millions of dollars in losses by disrupting service.
DoS attacks result in lost revenue, recovery expenses, and lost data. Often, a DoS attack is debilitating to small businesses, from which they do not recover.
A managed IT service works to counteract server overloads and ensure proper functionality of your network through high traffic.
Malvertisements are malware programs hidden inside ordinary online or email ads. Sure, it looks like an ad for karaoke night, but is it really? A hacker needs one user to click on the inconspicuously placed malware ad and they have access to your entire small business network.
Malware advertisements use your search history to create banners that correspond to things you would be interested in. Managed IT services actively scan for and eliminate fraudulent advertisements hiding on your networks browser.
The best way to keep your business safe from all types of malware is to hire a professional IT service. In the event of a data breach or theft, your managed IT service uses a full data backup to restore your businesses network information. A managed service also provides onsite and remote maintenance of your network in order to ward off cyber threats.
The average cost to small businesses, to repair their networks after a cyber attack, is over $600,000.
Over 60 percent of these businesses go under because of this expense. Make sure your business is safe from attack by consulting managed IT services.
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