As the amount of data stored in systems has increased, so has the frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks. The days of simply relying on a firewall and antivirus software to protect your network and data are over. Today, businesses are falling victim to attacks that not only shut down and compromise devices but also affect the network and cloud.
With that in mind, we gathered our security experts and had them rank some of today’s scariest and spookiest cyberthreats.
Here’s their countdown of the top 5 frighteners.
- Holistic Attacks
Holistic attacks can originate anywhere a vulnerability exists, whether the cloud, a server, a workstation endpoint, or a mobile device. From there, the attack can spread like wildfire, jumping across vulnerabilities and platforms until many endpoints and cloud systems are compromised.
For more details on holistic attacks and how you can prepare for them, check out our Threat Insight report on holistic attacks here.
- Signature-Based Antivirus Bypass Threats
Hackers have evolved ways to get past antivirus programs. No matter how quickly AV evolves protection, hackers will always be able to test their payload against the latest AV just by purchasing a single license. That’s why today, legacy antivirus software alone—and especially AV that relies solely on signature-based detection—just won’t cut it.
Learn more about adding Next-Generation Antivirus (NGAV) to your cybersecurity stack in our Threat Insight report here.
- PowerShell Suspicious Scripting
It has become increasingly common for cybercriminals to leverage PowerShell as a springboard into your organization and beyond.
Hackers construct this kind of attack in a fragmented fashion. No individual script appears malicious by itself but is, in fact, tricking you, giving you the perception that it may be safe. Determining whether the attack is actually malicious requires a long and thorough evaluation of the elements in the attack flow. By the end of that review, however, your systems would have already been severely compromised.
See how a combination of machine learning and human intelligence can defend your systems against PowerShell attacks in our Threat Insight report here.
- Microsoft 365 (Formerly Office 365) Account Takeover
With the rapid adoption of cloud services like Microsoft’s Office 365 and the distributed workforce, the risk of account takeover (ATO) fraud is increasing at alarming rates.
This cyber threat is a form of identity theft and fraud. When a malicious third party successfully gains access to a user’s account, the damage chain can magnify quickly. The threat actor then sends messages to employees inside the organization (or beyond), inflicting their damage. Learn how you can be vulnerable to these attacks and how to defend against them in our Threat Insight report on account takeovers here.
And that brings us nearly to the end. So what is the #1 scariest cyber threat of them all?
- Living Off the Land Attacks
Attacks on your organization are bad enough when you’re able to detect and stop them quickly. But when attackers breach your system and just sit there without you knowing? That’s downright scary.
In a “Living off the Land” attack, adversaries use legitimate admin tools to compromise secure environments undetected. They’ll drop malicious scripts or exploitive code in your system…and then wait weeks or even months to see if their code is detected. If not, they know they’re free to continue their attack. We have extensive coverage of “Living off the Land” attacks and how you can prepare for them in our dedicated Threat Insight report here.
How ActZero Can Help
As you can see from the links above, we have an extensive resource library of downloadable Threat Insight reports as well as videos from our security experts to help you better understand the threats you face. Check out some of those videos here.
But what if you need more help? ActZero can help there, too. ActZero’s managed detection and response (MDR) leverages the best of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and our expert human Threat Hunters to go beyond the protection that just traditional antivirus can provide. While there’s no guarantee of catching all threats, you can be assured that with
ActZero’s MDR, you’ve given yourself the best chance of success. Click here to request a demo.
