How do you beat hackers at their own game? You play the game.
Believe it or not, gaining a solid understanding of cybercriminals’ tactics is a great way to prevent attacks. Have you ever heard of the phrase, “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em?” Well, we want to teach you how to think like a hacker without the ‘joining them’ part.
While it may seem counterintuitive at first, knowing what to look for and understanding the motivation behind cybercriminals is an effective way to discover your own security vulnerabilities. Keep reading to get the low-down on preventing attacks at your organization.
Understanding Hackers: What’s Their Motivation?
There are a wide range of reasons why hackers hack, and much of that motivation revolves around—you guessed it—$$$. According to a study by Verizon, approximately 70% of breaches in 2021 were financially motivated. They’ll often do one of two things to get the coin they’re after:
- Scope out information valuable to you or your organization that can be sold for profit or ransomed for an exploitative fee.
- Look for information that allows them to steal from you directly, like through a bank account number or other confidential financial data.
Though money is a huge incentive for most criminals, and cyber criminals are no different—that’s not the only reason hackers hack. Some are just motivated by the challenge. If you’re a large or well-known organization with high-end security in place, you may just be some hackers’ dream playground. Many hackers see difficult-to-infiltrate security systems as a challenge they must master.
And don’t even get us started on ex-employees. While these people aren’t generally classified as “hackers,” think about the sensitive information they may have access to and what they could do to exploit it. From copying sensitive files and changing passwords to destroying or deleting data and backups, these types of people are motivated by resentment and should not be underestimated.
Is Your “Weakest Link” Your Employees?
It’s no secret that human error is a huge benefit to hackers. While your company may have the proper cybersecurity in place, these security measures are only as strong as your weakest link. With individuals being a bit easier to manipulate than entire organizations, it makes sense that cyber attacks, like phishing, have become the main tactic for hackers to steal money, intellectual property, or credentials.
In light of this, we have the training and software to keep you protected. Don’t let hackers get the best of you! We’ll help you beat them at their own game through the following:
- Phishing Training: Our email phishing training gives a first-hand look at the various ways cybercriminals ‘reel in’ their victims through phishing.
- Phishing & Analysis Tool with PII Protect: Our new state-of-the-art software integrates with Microsoft Dark Web Monitoring to alert you of compromised or stolen credentials.
- Ransomware Email Course: This free 4-day email series includes videos, easy-to-digest content, and practical insights that you can leverage to protect your business from ransomware.
Get Your Head in the Game With the Help of Exact IT
Sometimes the best way to get serious about protecting your valuable information is to imagine it in the hands of a cybercriminal. When you understand hackers’ motivation and take stock of the different types of information you have, you can protect it better.
Better yet, you can help eliminate hackers’ favorite thing—human error—with the help of our tools and training. Are you interested in utilizing our security solutions at your business?
