Malicious actors will use every trick they can to access your network, and their security breach strategies are always evolving and becoming more clever. Circumventing security scans and human cybersecurity training are always a high priority for the bad guys because in the best-case scenario, they can infect your network with malware without anyone realizing what has happened until it’s too late. Despite their best efforts to hide it, these security breach strategies do have some patterns to them, so employees can be trained on the best practices for identifying the signs that they’ve been targeted by malicious actors!
Known Applications in Security Breach Strategies
One of the most successful security breach strategies used in phishing and malware attacks is using a well-known website or application to lure users into a false sense of security. The first layer of the attack will usually have employees clicking on a link that is actually from a trusted source like Google Drive or Microsoft. Once that link is clicked, the user can be redirected to an actual malicious website or be prompted to download a malicious file that will download and deploy the actual malware. Hackers can use legitimate links to trusted sources for a number of uses, so employees always need to be on their guard for suspicious activity in their communications.
Making Malware Hard to Find
A tactic often called obfuscation is a security breach strategy that involves making the deployment or download of malware confusing or unclear. This can be achieved by burying malicious code inside of places users and security systems least suspect or scrambling source code in ways that are difficult to understand when looked at. For employees, these security breach strategies will often make a malicious file look like something routine like an Excel or PDF file. When paired with other attack strategies like the use of known applications, obfuscation can turn absent-mindedly downloading an Excel document into a full-blown security breach!
Hackers Establish Malware Persistence
When a malicious actor does gain access to a machine on your network, they want to make it difficult for their malware to be removed with a simple system restart. To do this, they code the malware to persist through a variety of approaches, such as making a new account with escalated privileges on your machine. In the worst cases, this data breach strategy can evade antivirus software and other simple detection tools because hackers have a wide variety of complex persistence techniques at their disposal. Not every hacker strikes right away, and persistent malware on your network can allow someone to siphon a large amount of information over time.
Summary
Of course, these security breach strategies are just a few examples of the tactics malicious actors will use, and we have only scratched the surface on how employees could potentially encounter them. What is important to remember is that malicious actors will try to hide their attacks behind legitimate sources, confusing deployment techniques, and persistence strategies that make the effects of an attack difficult to see. This means that your business needs the right IT consulting that keeps you up to date with the most recent data breach strategies used by malicious actors, and Robinett Consulting’s team of security specialists are ready to equip you with the tools and knowledge you need to stay one step ahead of the hackers!
