Facebook, LinkedIn, Kaseya, SolarWinds, Acer, and FedEx – What’s the commonality between all these behemoths? You guessed it – All these companies have been victims of security attacks of some form or the other. According to a Statista article, there were more than 240 publicized ransomware attacks worldwide in 2021- a YoY increase of ~25%. An IBM report states that average data breach costs rose from USD 3.86 million in 2020 to USD 4.24 million in 2021. In the world of security, it is often said that for every lock, there is someone out there trying to break in.
While mankind has taken long strides towards technological advancement, security attacks have become our biggest deterrent. Even though the pandemic has led to everyone talking about security, only a limited number of professionals/teams understand it and an even smaller cohort has the required knowledge to build a secure IT environment or respond to a security attack.
As part of this blog, I have tried to create a simple guide to building a secure environment and response framework in case of a security attack.
A security attack can be defined as an attempt by an entity (often called threat actor) to gain unauthorized access to IT assets and systems to steal confidential data, alter/delete data, lock access to data, or use the breached systems (or a network of breached systems) to perform certain compute-intensive tasks. Simply put, an enterprise is said to be under a security attack when it does not have full control over its IT assets and digital data stored. While there are numerous ways by which an orchestrated security attack can be carried out, the following are some of the most common types:
The primary motive of a security attack is to gain access to confidential and sensitive information (often termed as a data breach). The recent security attacks leveraging the Log4Shell vulnerability which had set the security world on fire was an example of zero-day exploit as attackers had started exploiting the vulnerability even before patches were made available and could have gained access to sensitive enterprise data.
Designing and building a secure environment requires dedicated effort, the right investments, and deep analysis. There’s no silver bullet solution with security, a structured and systematic defense is the only viable defense. Adopting the following security mechanisms can help minimize the risk of security threats thereby improving overall security posture:
In the situation of an ongoing security attack, I have witnessed instances of enterprises being panic-stricken and working haphazardly to ensure that systems are not compromised or to limit the damage. It is important to understand that a simple but well-defined plan of action is extremely necessary to systematically safeguard systems during a security attack. The following framework can be adopted to successfully maneuver through a security attack:
In the post-pandemic era, as working remotely has become the new norm, ensuring security is a necessity as well as a challenge. Although several businesses are trying to become resilient by adopting digital technologies, the threat actors are devising novice methods of penetrating to gain a foothold on enterprise data and assets. So, the need of the hour is to implement an effective and robust security solution to mitigate security risks.
Building a strong defense against security threats requires a holistic thought process. Brillio brings in the right blend of well-defined security processes, effective implementation, and usage of security tools along with the expertise of experienced security professionals. The security module of our proprietary tool Brillioone.ai is purpose-built to enhance and transform the security posture of enterprises.
