How to Strengthen Your Cybersecurity Defenses Against Targeted Attacks

Cyberattacks have become increasingly sophisticated. Institutions must implement robust cybersecurity measures to prevent these attacks.

Cybercriminals launch many cyberattacks for financial gain. They may steal customer credit card information or proprietary company data.

These cyberattacks can also turn off computer systems. Institutions must keep up with software updates and patches to avoid such attacks.

Install the Latest Security Updates

Keeping software up to date is one of the most important steps to protect your institution against a targeted attack. The latest software updates are designed to close security holes in applications, operating systems, and other programs. These holes are known as vulnerabilities and can allow hackers to access your device, steal data, or encrypt files.

Many cybersecurity threats rely on known software vulnerabilities to access your system. This is why installing security updates as soon as they become available is important.

You can get security updates through the software vendor’s website or a service like Windows Update, WSUS, or System Center Configuration Manager. In addition to security fixes, some updates include new features for your device or program.

However, be careful when downloading software updates from websites other than your software vendors’ official ones. Attackers may post malware-laden files disguised as software updates, so download them only from trusted sources.

Update Your Firewall

Having a firewall in place is the best preventative measure you can take against cyberattacks. Firewalls can block unauthorized access, including viruses, backdoors, remote logins, denial-of-service attacks, and macros. They can also prevent hackers from installing malware, ransomware, spyware, and phishing programs.

Ensure your firewall software is up to date. Firewall manufacturers release software updates regularly, and these changes can fix security vulnerabilities. For small businesses, it’s generally safe to install these updates immediately. For large organizations, it’s important to test them for compatibility and configuration before deploying them to production systems.

Once you’ve updated your firewall, it’s essential to test its performance regularly to ensure all the latest vulnerabilities are being blocked. Tests can include log auditing, firmware patches, and vulnerability scanning. An automated system that routinely checks for available firewall upgrades is also a good idea. This will eliminate the need for human intervention and ensure your firewall is always up to date. This can help you meet PCI DSS requirements for logging and auditing and protect your organization against security breaches.

Install Antivirus Software

Antivirus software is a necessary preventative measure to protect your computer from malware or malicious software that runs without the owner’s knowledge and consent. Examples of malware include viruses, worms, Trojans, spyware, and adware. Computer viruses spread like a disease from one computer to another and can cause significant and often irreparable damage.

Malware can also steal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers, or install programs that cause your computer to act strangely. For example, a keyboard logger is a malware that secretly records every keystroke and returns this information to the cybercriminal. More sophisticated malware, called rootkits, can hide their presence and allow attackers to take control of a computer remotely.

Traditional antivirus software detects common malware through a signature database, but cybercriminals always work to stay a step ahead. To counter this, more advanced antivirus protections, such as next-generation endpoint detection and response (EDR) and, more recently, extended detection and response (XDR), offer additional layers of defense. However, no cybersecurity solution can fully protect against 100 percent of online ‘ malware’ attacks.

Install a Malware Removal Tool

Cyberattacks are a major concern for all organizations, especially devastating financial institutions. Data breaches can expose customer information, threaten to publish it, and lead to loss of business and reputation.

A malware removal tool can identify and remove threats that antivirus software might miss, so it’s a good idea to install one and run it regularly. These tools can also help detect and block malicious websites, so they prevent cybercriminals from stealing user information or distributing malware.

Update Your Software

Malware attacks are some of the most common cyber threats, and they come in many forms – from viruses that delete files or hold them hostage for ransom to spyware that secretly monitors keystrokes. To protect against malware attacks, install defensive cybersecurity solutions like antivirus software and antimalware applications. Regularly updating these tools minimizes vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit.

Another important strategy for minimizing cyberattacks is to keep your attack surface as small as possible. This involves limiting access to sensitive apps, devices, and data to only those that need it. To do this, implement a zero-trust framework with secure privileged access management tools to manage account privileges and enforce policies.

The best way to strengthen your cybersecurity defenses against targeted attacks is to work with a Managed IT Service provider that can provide proactive network monitoring. This ensures that your system’s pings and entry points are constantly monitored, checked for threats and hardware failures, and updated and secured with the latest security patches. It also helps educate your employees about common cyber threats, like phishing attacks, password guessing, and man-in-the-middle attacks.