State-sponsored cyber attacks (SSA) are a hot topic for cybersecurity in Miami, but what is an SSA and how can it impact your business? We’ll delve deeper into this topic to try and learn more about SSAs and the real risks that they pose.
What are State-Sponsored Cyber Attacks?
An SSA is an attack from a nation-state that has the goal of:
- Gathering intelligence
- Exploiting people and systems
- Identifying infrastructure vulnerabilities
- Exploiting these vulnerabilities
While many businesses and individuals assume that an SSA is against government systems, this is often not the case. Instead, these attacks are usually focused on contractors and businesses because they’re easier to infiltrate than government agencies.
Additionally, if a nation-state does target government systems or military infrastructure, it can be seen as an act of war, which isn’t ideal.
Poorly defended businesses are often the target of these attacks. However, if you own a small restaurant, for example, you’re likely not at risk of an SSA. Some companies are far more susceptible to SSA attacks and are the focus of these threats.
Who is at Risk of an SSA?
If you’re a business owner or key leader in any of the following sectors, you’re a primary target of a state-sponsored cyberattack and will want to work on strenghthening your business’s security.
- Companies that offer utilities or public services, such as energy companies
- Any company that has active government contracts
- Smaller local government entities
- Major conglomerates or businesses with high revenue
- Any business that handles sensitive user or infrastructure information
- Businesses in volatile regions
Any business that falls into the categories above must begin to take measures to protect against potential security threats. You'll want to stick to security basics, much of which include:
- Patch management. Protocols must be in place for rapid patch management across a large enterprise. These protocols should allow for rapid patches to be deployed to keep systems safe and secure while minimizing downtime.
- Encryption. One of the best security measures you can take to lower the risk of costly SSAs is to encrypt all your data. Encryption will empower you to keep sensitive information safe even if a hacker does infiltrate your system.
- Disaster recovery. Every business should have disaster recovery protocols in place, including backup systems and the like. Proper disaster recovery allows you to resume business as quickly as possible after a potential hack.
- Penetration testing. Security experts should be hired to run penetration tests on your systems to find weaknesses that hackers can exploit to access your systems. These tests are only valuable if you take corrective action based on the test results.
Of course, this is just a small set of measures that you need to take to protect against SSAs. State-sponsored attacks are often very complex and will target your systems over the course of months to find vulnerabilities to exploit. Even something as innocent as allowing an employee to use a personal laptop can lead to a major security breach.
If you want to optimize your security, contact our cybersecurity company in Miami to take a proactive approach to protect against state-sponsored cyberattacks.