It takes a lot to run a successful business today. Not only do you need efficient operations and keeping customers satisfied, but you also need to contend with a wide range of security threats.
However, while most businesses are aware of well-known cybersecurity risks and apply the necessary measures to protect themselves, they can overlook potential threats emerging from within their organizations.
Over time, if left unchecked, these threats can create potential entry points for cybercriminals and leave your business vulnerable to attacks. Below, we’ll identify three key threats that many businesses face, but may not even realize are there.
Employee-Driven Security Threats
Most of the time, the first thing that comes to a business’s mind when they hear the term “cyberthreat” is something that originates outside their organization. However, these threats can also come from one of their most critical assets - their employees.
Knowing how to identify and manage these threats effectively is critical as businesses grow.
Malicious Insiders
On rare occasions, employees may abuse their access privileges for malicious intent. The end goal could be to steal company data and sell it on the dark web or simply try to damage an organization’s reputation by compromising their security compliance initiatives.
It’s essential to remember that employees often possess a deep understanding of a company's systems, internal processes, and security protocols. While the risk of a malicious insider being present in your organization is relatively low, the larger your business becomes, the more risks it comes with.
To counter these types of threats, businesses should implement various user access limitations. This includes setting clear rules for how users interact with critical networks, systems, and databases.
The Human Element
In many cases, the human element itself can present new security risks for an organization. Often, these risks are not intended by your employee and occur simply because they forget to follow certain security procedures, reuse older and weaker login credentials, or fail to adhere to best security practices.
One way to address this issue is by prioritizing practical cybersecurity training within your organization. Setting aside the time and resources necessary to educate your teams can help to significantly reduce the common mistakes that lead to gaps in security.
Another effective strategy is to hire penetration testing services to help identify areas where your business is most vulnerable. These ethical hackers run simulated attacks against your critical systems, actively looking for vulnerabilities that cybercriminals are likely to exploit. Depending on the results of these tests, you can then prioritize your employee education based on these issues.
Shadow IT Threats
While your IT teams may work tirelessly to ensure your applications and services are secured, shadow IT can quickly derail their efforts, introducing new threats to the organization without businesses even realizing it.
Unsanctioned IT Threats
Unsanctioned IT, also known as “shadow IT,” is a common occurrence in modern organizations, originating from employees downloading and using third-party software without prior approval. While employees may have the company’s best interests at heart when doing this, there are a number of risks this shadow IT can introduce, including:
1. Operating software without adequate security updates
2. Storing or sharing company data without the necessary encryption protocols in place
3. Creating security gaps that can compromise data compliance initiatives.
Tackling Shadow IT Effectively
It can be challenging to get a handle on shadow IT, especially as the business grows or when relying on remote working teams. The first step businesses should take is to conduct a thorough analysis of user activity, as well as hold one-on-one conversations with various departments about the applications they use on a daily basis.
Another option for businesses is to utilize network monitoring tools and conduct formal audits that can identify the types of applications or services running on company devices. This can help to create a list of unsanctioned IT so that it can be properly addressed. After identifying any shadow IT, businesses should take the time to evaluate the associated risks and implement the necessary changes to mitigate them.
Third-Party Threats
In most cases, organizations will have a wide network of outside suppliers, vendors, and distributors to help them keep things running smoothly.
However, these partnerships can also present certain risks worth considering.
Supply Chain Weaknesses
When your business creates a list of partnerships, it essentially creates several endpoints where data is exchanged and accessed. This widens a business’s attack surface, and a security breach from any one of these access points - whether from inside or outside the business - can potentially compromise an organization’s data security.
Reducing Risk Exposure With Outside Partners
Third-party security risks only increase as an organization’s supply chain expands. This requires constant attention from the business, particularly when it comes to Third Party Risk Management.
Before your business decides to move forward with a partner, it’s important to closely evaluate their security readiness and ability to protect your data assets. This may include verifying their security practices, looking at their data encryption methods, and ensuring they have an effective disaster recovery plan in place.
When reviewing supplier contracts, ensure that clear service level agreements (SLAs) are in place that outline the steps both parties are responsible for in the event of a security incident. This helps to avoid misunderstandings and ensures that both parties understand their accountabilities, thereby minimizing data exposure.
Take a Closer Look at Your Business’s Security Readiness
Protecting your business from new emerging security threats is essential. However, while focusing on significant external risks is important, it is also critical that you do not lose sight of internal risks that may be emerging.
By following the strategies discussed and adopting a holistic security readiness approach, you can enhance the resilience of your operations while reducing your risk exposure long-term.
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