Cyberattacks that made it to the 2022 list and how to mitigate them

Remember how SpiceJet, an Indian airline, suspended a slew of flights on June 1 after being the subject of a serious ransomware attack? The airline was compelled to halt all flights due to an attempted ransomware attack, which resulted in significant disruptions and cancellations. Well, SpiceJet wasn’t the only company that faced a cyberattack. Big names like Tech Mahindra, Oil India, Air India, and Twitter became cyber-bullying victims. The country reported over 6.74 lakh cybersecurity in 2022 up till June, informed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

Several companies and the Indian Government are continuously advocating for safe cyber practices and alerting internet users to beware of dangerous cyberattacks. This article also attempts to educate the readers on the top cyberattacks of 2022, which everyone should take cognizance of, and the tips to save yourself from such attacks.

Major Cyberattack Types in 2022 & Ways To Mitigate Them

Phishing

Phishing is a misleading use of electronic communications to fool and take advantage of people. Phishing attempts are made to obtain sensitive data, including usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, network access credentials, and more. Cybercriminals use social engineering to deceive victims into doing certain activities, such as opening a dangerous link or file or voluntarily revealing personal information by posing as a reputable individual or organization over the telephone or via email.

Since practically any type of personal or organizational data might be beneficial for fraud or gaining access to an organization’s network, people and companies are in danger. Additionally, certain phishing schemes might target corporate data to aid in snooping campaigns or state-sponsored eavesdropping on opposition parties.

Prevention tips:

Examine the emails you get carefully. Most phishing emails from trustworthy sources typically contain serious problems, including spelling typos and style modifications.
Use a tool that detects phishing attempts.
Change your passwords more frequently.
Use two-factor authentication.

Ransomware

A virus known as ransomware encrypts data and shuts down operational systems. It can enter a business through spam emails or flaws in the network or software of the enterprise. After the malware has been placed on a network, data is either taken, erased, or locked. There is certainly no assurance that your company’s data will be decrypted or restored even despite paying extortion. Moreover, if the data is stolen, it could still be exposed.

Ransomware poses a threat to SMBs as well as larger businesses. Although ransomware has been used in attacks for more than four decades, its prevalence and effectiveness have grown over the past few years. During the Covid-19 outbreak, hackers were busier than ever, preying on telecommuters who weren’t safeguarded by their IT teams.

Besides monetary loss, this deadly infection may result in significant service interruptions, outages, productivity losses, data loss, and even serious harm to a company’s reputation.

Prevention tips:

Have a plan in place for dealing with ransomware. Remember that you have a thorough disaster recovery strategy and frequent backups to maintain business continuity.
End-to-end security is a must-have. Verify that the network is secure on all connected devices. Even systems should have secure endpoint protection in place to safeguard the file, app, and network layers and instantly handle the security alarms.
Ensure encryption and security for email. Check emails for malicious programs, look for harmful file extensions on attachments, and restrict links in phishing emails. Email encryption can protect sensitive information and consumer data in transit.
Utilize a VPN to enclose your data in protection and Zero Trust Network Access to monitor data usage throughout your network.
Organiza security-related education programs for staff members.

Malware

SonicWall’s report revealed that after the United States, India had experienced the second-highest global increase in malware attacks (34% YoY). Companies rapidly become scapegoats for sophisticated threats and frequently outwit even the most effective security defenses.

One of the most prevalent forms of cyberattacks is malware. It alludes to harmful computer viruses, such as rootkits, worms, trojans, adware, keyloggers, spyware, and adware.

The trojan infection impersonates trusted applications. We previously spoke about ransomware in the last section. Software known as spyware is capable of secretly stealing all of your private information. Adware is used to show banner advertisements on a user’s screen. With the use of rootkits, unauthorized people may enter your system covertly. Keyloggers monitor your keyboard activity and retain a log of your keystrokes. This data is employed to unlock your accounts without authorization.

Prevention tips:

Implement antivirus software. Your PC can be protected against malware with this. Some of the well-known antivirus tools are McAfee, Norton, and Avast.
Install firewalls. Firewalls sift through potential inbound traffic to your device. Windows Firewall and Mac Firewall are the built-in firewalls that come standard with Windows and Mac OS X.
Keep an eye out for questionable links, and stay vigilant.
Regularly update your operating system and browsers.

Social engineering

The term “social engineering” describes a broad spectrum of assaults that take advantage of the victim’s contact and impulses to control the victim. The target of the assault is duped into divulging personal data or jeopardizing security.

An assault using social engineering often involves several phases. The perpetrator will thoroughly investigate the possible victim, who will learn more about them and how to exploit them to get over security measures or obtain information. The hacker will then attempt to win the user’s confidence before eventually coercing them into disclosing private information or breaking security rules.

Prevention tips:

Uphold secure communication and account management practices. Always use caution while corresponding online, and never believe someone whose identity you cannot verify. The most important rule is to avoid disclosing personal information and to never click on anything that seems odd.
Enter a URL manually in the address box rather than clicking on it. Before clicking on any URLs, double-check where they came from. If you can’t confirm their legitimacy, stay away from such links.
Social engineers can be stopped from breaking into a system by requiring more than just a password to access an account. Biometrics or text-based temporary passwords could be used in this. Therefore, use a password manager and secure passwords.
Avoid developing friendships online that look doubtful.

Denial-of-service attack

Enterprises face serious danger from denial-of-service attacks. Attackers, in this scenario, target systems, servers, or networks and saturate them with traffic in an effort to deplete their bandwidth and capabilities. The site runs either shuts down or lags due to the servers’ inability to handle the influx of requests. As a result, the real service requests go unmet.

According to data from Cloudflare, HTTP DDoS assaults in India stood at the third position in Q2 2022. These cyberattacks coming from India increased dramatically throughout the quarter by 87%. This attack is sometimes referred to as a DDoS (Distributed Denial-of-Service) attack.

Prevention tips:

Analyze the traffic to find malicious traffic.
Recognize the warning signals, such as network lag and sporadic website outages. In such situations, the organization needs to act right away.
Create an incident response strategy, maintain a checklist, and confirm that your staff and data center can handle a DDoS assault.
Contract with cloud-based service providers to avert DDoS.