Cybersecurity Risk Management - How to Manage Third-Party Risks
Every day is without a news story about data breaches that reveal hundreds of thousands, or millions of personal information of people. These data breaches are typically caused by third-party partners such as a vendor who experiences an issue with their system.
Information about your threat environment is vital to framing cyber risk. This helps you decide the threats that require immediate attention.
State-Sponsored Attacs
If cyberattacks are carried out by an entire nation, they have the potential to cause more severe damage than other attacks. Attackers from nations are usually well-resourced and have sophisticated hacking techniques, making it difficult to identify them or defend against them. They can take sensitive information and disrupt business services. They may also cause damage by targeting the supply chain of the business and the third suppliers.
The average cost of a nation-state terrorism attack is estimated at $1.6 million. Nine out of 10 organizations think they've been the victim of an attack by a state. Cyberspionage is becoming increasingly popular among nation-state threat actors. Therefore, it is more crucial than ever that companies have robust cybersecurity procedures.
Cyberattacks against states can take a variety of forms, ranging from taking intellectual property, to ransomware or a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. They may be conducted by government agencies, employees of a cybercrime outfit which is affiliated with or contracted by a state, freelancers hired for a specific nationalist operation or even just criminal hackers who target the public at large.
The advent of Stuxnet changed the game of cyberattacks by allowing states to use malware as a weapon and make use of it against their enemies. Since since then, states have been using cyberattacks to achieve political goals, economic and military.
In enhanced cybersecurity there has been an increase in both the sophistication and number of attacks backed by governments. For instance the Russian government-sponsored group Sandworm has been targeting both businesses and consumers with DDoS attacks and ransomware. This is in contrast to the traditional crime syndicates which are motivated by financial gain and tend to target businesses owned by consumers.
Responding to a state actor's national threat requires a lot of coordination between various government agencies. This is a significant difference from "your grandfather's cyberattack" when a company might submit an Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Report to the FBI however, it wouldn't necessarily require significant coordination with the FBI as part of its incident response process. In addition to the greater level of coordination, responding to a nation-state attack requires coordination with foreign governments which can be demanding and time-consuming.
Smart Devices
As more devices connect to the Internet, cyber attacks are becoming more common. This increase in attack surfaces can pose security risks to both businesses and consumers. For instance, hackers could use smart devices to steal data or even compromise networks. This is particularly true when the devices aren't secured and secured.
Smart devices are especially attractive to hackers because they can be used to gather lots of information about businesses or individuals. For example, voice controlled assistants like Alexa and Google Home can learn a number of information about users via the commands they receive. They can also collect information about users' home layouts as well as other personal details. In addition they are often used as an interface to other kinds of IoT devices, like smart lights, security cameras, and refrigerators.
If hackers can get access to these kinds of devices, they could cause serious harm to individuals and businesses. They can make use of these devices to carry out a wide range of crimes, like identity theft, fraud and Denial-of-Service attacks (DoS). Additionally, they can hack into vehicles to alter GPS locations or disable safety features. They may even cause physical injuries to drivers and passengers.
There are ways to minimize the harm caused by smart devices. Users can, for example, change the factory default passwords on their devices to prevent attackers finding them easily. They can also activate two-factor verification. Regular firmware updates are also required for routers as well as IoT devices. Local storage, as opposed to cloud storage, can lower the threat of an attacker when transferring and storage of data from or to these devices.
It is still necessary to conduct research to better understand the digital damage and the best ways to mitigate them. Particularly, research should be focused on identifying and developing technology solutions that can help reduce the harms caused by IoT devices. They should also explore other potential harms like those that are associated with cyberstalking and the exacerbated power asymmetries between household members.
Human Error
Human error is one of the most frequent causes of cyberattacks. It can be anything from downloading malware to leaving an organization's network vulnerable to attack. By creating and enforcing strict security controls, many of these blunders can be avoided. For example, a worker could click on a malicious attachment in a phishing scam or a storage configuration error could expose sensitive information.
Moreover, an employee might disable a security feature on their system without realizing that they're doing it. This is a common mistake that makes software vulnerable to attacks from malware and ransomware. According to IBM, the majority of security incidents are caused by human error. This is why it's important to understand the types of errors that can lead to a cybersecurity breach and take steps to prevent the risk.
Cyberattacks can be committed to a variety of reasons including hacking, financial fraud and to steal personal information and to block service or disrupt the critical infrastructure and vital services of a state or an organization. State-sponsored actors, vendors or hacker groups are often the perpetrators.
The threat landscape is always changing and complex. Therefore, organizations have to continuously review their risk profiles and review their security strategies to ensure that they are up to current with the latest threats. The good news is that the most advanced technologies can reduce the overall risk of a cyberattack and enhance the security of an organization.
But, it's crucial to remember that no technology is able to protect an organization from every threat. This is the reason it's essential to create an effective cybersecurity plan that considers the different layers of risk within an organisation's network ecosystem. It's also crucial to conduct regular risk assessments instead of relying on conventional point-in time assessments that are often inaccurate or miss the mark. A comprehensive assessment of the security risks facing an organization will permit an effective reduction of these risks, and also ensure compliance with industry standard. This will ultimately help prevent costly data breaches and other security incidents from adversely impacting a business's reputation, operations and finances. A successful cybersecurity plan includes the following elements:
Third-Party Vendors
Third-party vendors are businesses that do not belong to the organization but provide services, software, or products. These vendors have access to sensitive information such as client information, financials or network resources. The vulnerability of these companies can be used to access the business system they originally used to operate from in the event that they are not secure. This is the reason that cybersecurity risk management teams are willing to go to the extremes to ensure that third-party risks can be identified and managed.
This risk is increasing as cloud computing and remote working become more common. In fact, a recent study by security analytics firm BlueVoyant found that 97% of the companies they surveyed had been adversely affected by supply chain vulnerabilities. A disruption by a vendor even if it only affects a small portion of the supply chain can have a domino-effect that can affect the entire business.
Many organizations have created an approach to accept new suppliers from third parties and require them to sign service level agreements that specify the standards they are accountable to in their relationship with the company. A sound risk assessment should also document how the vendor's weaknesses are tested and followed up with and rectified in a timely fashion.
Another way to protect your business from threats from third parties is by using an access management system that requires two-factor authentication to gain entry into the system. This will prevent attackers from getting access to your network by stealing an employee's credentials.
Also, ensure that your third-party vendors have the latest versions of their software. This will ensure that they haven't created any security flaws unintentionally in their source code. Most of the time, these flaws remain undetected and are used as a springboard for more high-profile attacks.
Third-party risk is a constant threat to any business. While the strategies mentioned above can aid in reducing some of these risks, the most effective method to ensure your risk to third parties is minimized is by performing continuous monitoring. This is the only method to fully understand the security threat of your third-party and quickly identify the potential threats.