Phishing scams affect millions of people worldwide each year. Typically, these scams involve an email that appears legitimate, often disguised as correspondence from a bank or other reputable organisation. These emails deceive you into believing that your account has been compromised, and that you must submit your personal information for verification. If you fall for this trap and proceed to provide your details, the scammer will gain access to your account and pilfer your money.
To avoid these scams, it is crucial to stay informed and safeguard yourself against these attacks. One effective way to accomplish this is to utilise the latest technologies available, which can recognise and intercept such fraudulent activities.
As the current pandemic continues, hackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their approaches. You should exercise caution even if you consider yourself impervious to classic phishing scams. These hackers can infiltrate businesses and individuals by employing various methods, facilitating the theft of private information and financial resources.
Cybersecurity: An Essential Component of the Digital Landscape
The Importance of Cybersecurity – When you leave your home, you take measures to secure it against potential intruders. You lock the doors and windows and may activate an alarm system. Similarly, cybersecurity entails protecting your digital devices and resources from harm, such as safeguarding your computer against malware or preventing unauthorised access to your mobile device. Information security refers to the process of preventing harm to digital resources, including computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks and data.
Hackers often target devices that lack any form of security protection. To them, it’s akin to leaving your doors wide open with a sign inviting them to come in and take what they please.
It’s important to note that cyberattacks can take various forms beyond the familiar malicious email attachments.
Common Types of Online Attacks
Malware
Once hackers have gained access, malicious computer programs such as spyware, ransomware, viruses and worms can cause significant harm to a system. This may involve restricting users from accessing critical components of a network or installing further malicious software.
Phishing
Phishing is among the prevalent forms of online attacks. As previously mentioned, it often entails sending fraudulent messages, usually via email, with the aim of stealing sensitive personal information such as credit card numbers or social security numbers.
Third-party Service Disruption Attack
Cybercriminals overwhelm a system’s networks and servers with bogus requests, rendering the system unable to respond to genuine ones.
Man-in-the-Middle Attack
This type of attack involves a hacker eavesdropping on a private conversation to obtain sensitive information.
As the number of hacks and data breaches continues to rise, it is becoming increasingly critical to take precautions to safeguard your company and employees. With an increasing number of people working remotely, emphasizing the significance of cybersecurity is crucial.
To better comprehend the severity of the situation, below are some statistics on cyberattacks:
- The pandemic caused a surge of up to 600% in cybercrime.
- 53% of remote workers have never fallen victim to a phishing scam.
- Between February and May 2023, the information of approximately 500,000 video conferencing users worldwide was compromised.
- The global average cost of a data breach is estimated to be $3.86 million.
- This year, identity theft and fraud have jeopardised the security of 300 million individuals worldwide.
The aforementioned data is alarming, but don’t despair. There are effective cybersecurity strategies you can employ to thwart criminals and protect your business’s most sensitive information.
What are the most effective cybersecurity tools of 2023? Here’s what’s on our list:
- Wireshark
- NIKTO
- NMAP
- Acunetix
- Metasploit
- SolarWinds Security Event Manager.
- Abel and Cain.
- Linux Kali.
Robust cybersecurity measures are crucial, and it goes beyond just asking your staff to use stronger passwords. They should also be educated on how to identify phishing emails. Additionally, it’s recommended to utilise software that can defend against hacking or cybercrime. To help you decide, we conducted research on the top choices for remote workers in need of cybersecurity software:
1. Wireshark.
Wireshark (formerly known as Ethereal) is a top-of-the-line cyber security console that offers visibility into network activity, making it an excellent tool for preventing cyber attacks. It analyses network protocols to detect any vulnerabilities and presents the information in a way that’s easy to comprehend. For businesses looking to monitor their network traffic and safeguard against potential threats, this tool is invaluable.
Here are the main advantages of utilising Wireshark:
- Real-time monitoring and analysis capabilities.
- The ability to examine numerous procedures in intricate detail.
- Both TTY-mode and a graphical user interface offer access to the recorded network data.
- Complete analysis of the VolP.
- It’s compatible with a variety of operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, macOS, Solaris and more.
Completely free of charge.
2. Nikto
Nikto is an open-source vulnerability management and scanning tool that can detect up to 6700 unique web-based threats. It scans over 1250 servers and 270 versions to check for any outdated software. The system scans many web servers and networks, and developers continually add new thread information to the database. This allows for quick identification and patching of any new security vulnerabilities on your website.
Some of Nikto’s notable features are:
- Extensive support for HTTP proxies.
- Checks the server for outdated software and hardware.
- Reports can be saved in multiple formats, such as text, XML, HTML, NBE and CSV.
- Flexible template engine for easy reporting.
- Techniques that employ mutations to gather information from web servers.
Cost: Zero
3. Nmap
Nmap, also known as Network Mapper, is a freely available and open-source tool created for the purpose of scanning computer networks and other information systems to identify vulnerabilities. It’s beneficial for networks of all sizes, as it provides administrators a comprehensive view of the entire system. This tool can conduct vulnerability scans and generate maps depicting the attack vectors present in a network.
Nmap’s extensive capabilities include:
- Generates topological diagrams of discovered networks.
- Shows the differences between two scans.
- Provides a summary of the results of full scans.
- Offers both graphical and interactive output.
- Administrators can monitor the addition of new hosts and services to a network.
Completely Free of Charge
4. Acunetix
Nowadays, most businesses have an online application or website. These sites are prime targets for cybercriminals, which makes protecting them imperative. Acunetix aims to help companies secure their online applications against cybercrime by defining protective measures. As part of this system, an online vulnerability scanning application can detect up to 7,000 vulnerabilities and audit the website to identify potential attacks and issues like SQL Injection, Email Header Injection, Server-Side Request Forgery, and more.
Primary benefits of Acunetix:
- Thoroughly analyses and crawls the website.
- WordPress, as a quality control measure,
- Conducting a network scan
- Allow users to have control over the targets
- Assessing the level of risk exposure
The basic package costs $4,500 per year.
5. Metasploit
Metasploit is a toolkit utilized for conducting penetration testing. It can evaluate the security of multiple systems, such as the Internet and its associated services, such as websites, networks, and servers. This utility ensures that security is maintained at all times, and any newly identified vulnerabilities are patched promptly. Metasploit also includes automation and pre-written scripts.
Metasploit’s most significant highlights include:
- System security flaws are detected. Read this article to learn more about why your company needs a code inspector.
- Creates strategies for deploying cyber defence infrastructure
- Manages risk evaluations
- Discovers stealthy malware that infiltrates a system
- Enables comprehensive system penetration testing
Price: Varies. The Community edition is free, while the Pro edition has an annual cost of around $15,000.
6. SolarWinds’ Security Event Manager
SolarWinds Security Event Manager is an intrusion detection and prevention system designed for both networks and hosts. It continually monitors real-time security breaches and issues alerts if anything suspicious is detected, boosting product security while enhancing network administration, management, and monitoring. Learn more about Security Event Manager here.
Key features of SolarWinds Security Event Manager include:
- Comes with built-in integrity monitoring
- Identify threats rapidly and respond promptly.
- Offers a Log event archive and correlation service
- Features an intuitive UI and easy-to-use dashboard
- Includes tools for compliance reporting.
Priced at around $2,613
7. Cain and Abel
Cain and Abel is a well-established cybersecurity solution that continues to be relevant in today’s landscape. Widely used by administrators, analysts, and security consultants, it enables network defenses to be assessed. This powerful tool is specifically designed to identify vulnerabilities in the password security systems of Windows operating systems. With features like cached password viewing, password box unlocking, and encrypted password decryption, Cain and Abel is particularly effective for password recovery.
Some of the key features of Cain and Abel include:
- Breaking WEP Encryption
- Decryption of passwords.
- Locating stored passwords
- Calculation of hash values.
- Traceroute
Completely free of charge
8. Linux Kali
For those seeking reliable cybersecurity solutions, Kali Linux is often a go-to option. With over 600 security-checking applications included in its operating system, it’s a valuable tool for businesses looking to perform network scans and identify potential security vulnerabilities. One of the key benefits of Kali Linux is that it can be used effectively by non-cybersecurity experts, allowing users to easily monitor the security levels of their systems.
Key benefits of using Kali Linux include:
- Multi-language support
- Extensive wireless device compatibility
- Complete customizability
- Developed in a secure environment
- Free and public Git source code repository
Cost: Free
Secure and dependable connections
To guard against cyberattacks, businesses can implement various measures. While no single measure can fully eliminate the risk, using a combination of these eight resources can help protect your company’s and customers’ sensitive information:
- Employee training – Provide comprehensive cybersecurity awareness training for all employees, teaching them basic security hygiene, such as avoiding clicking on suspicious links or sharing passwords.
- Firewalls – Deploy firewalls on all company devices to prevent unauthorized access.
- Anti-virus software – Utilize anti-virus software to safeguard against malware and other harmful software.
- Robust passwords – Employ strong and distinctive passwords for all accounts, and update them frequently.
- Two-factor authentication – Whenever possible, activate two-factor authentication for extra security.
- Data encryption – Encrypt sensitive data to make it harder for hackers to gain access.
- Backup systems – Institute backup systems to prevent data loss in the event of a breach.
- Regular updates – Keep all software and systems up-to-date to help minimize vulnerabilities.
Ensuring website or network security necessitates meticulous management. You require a trustworthy IT professional to maintain everything in order. We are a remote staffing service committed to helping companies find and recruit top-level professionals. Reach out to us, and we will connect you with a specialist who will guard your network against any threat it may face.
