Penetration testing is critical to identifying security threats to your IT infrastructure before they can blossom into full-blown attacks. Conducting an external “black box” pen test will help you pinpoint security vulnerabilities you may not readily identify with an internal pen test. Read on to learn more about black box pen testing best practices from which you could benefit. (more…)
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How to Audit for Compliance Risks
Whether you comply with regulatory standards by virtue of your location or industry, learning how to audit for compliance risks will help keep your sensitive data safe from security threats. Besides mitigating data breaches, conducting compliance audits will help you avoid costly non-compliance fines and penalties. Read on to learn more. (more…)
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How Does GDPR Affect B2B Sales?
If your organization conducts business with other businesses, you may be wondering: how does GDPR affect B2B sales? GDPR may apply to different processes along the marketing and sales pipeline, depending on the type of transactions you conduct. Read on to learn more about remaining compliant with the GDPR as you engage in business-to-business transactions. (more…)
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What is Spooling in Cyber Security? Full Guide to Spooling Attacks
If your organization relies on devices, programs, or systems that temporarily store information during processing, you might be at risk of spooling attacks. So, what is spooling in cyber security? When spooling occurs, a perpetrator can gain access to sensitive information within your organization’s networks. Read our blog to learn more about spooling. (more…)
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What is a Zero Day Attack & How to Avoid It
You may have heard of recent zero-day attacks that compromised email accounts and posed risks to sensitive data. But what is a zero-day attack? Put simply, it’s an attack that leverages flaws in your IT infrastructure and can compromise your sensitive data. Read on to learn more. (more…)
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What’s The Likelihood of a Cyber Attack On My Company?
With cyber attacks on the rise, many leaders are asking: what’s the likelihood of a cyber attack on my company? Being prepared is critical to successfully defending your organization from impending attacks. Read on to learn how to identify signs of a cyber attack and prepare for one.
How to Know the Likelihood of a Cyber Attack On My Company
You can identify the probability of a cyber attack on your company by reviewing:
- Intelligence on how often cyber attacks happen to businesses
- The impact of cyber attacks on other businesses
With an understanding of the likelihood of your company being a target of a cyberattack, you will be better prepared to address these attacks head-on. As a business leader wondering, “what’s the likelihood of a cyber attack on my company?,” You should consult a threat and vulnerability management expert on best practices for how to protect against cyber attacks on your company.
The Chances Of Getting Cyber Attacked
The likelihood of a cyber attack on your company will most likely depend on the:
- Types of sensitive data you handle (e.g., protected health information (PHI))
- Nature of your cybersecurity infrastructure (e.g., threat detection safeguards)
- Cybersecurity risks inherent to your industry (e.g., sensitive data processing)
Understanding the top risks for cyber attacks will help you figure out how to prevent a cyber attack from impacting your business.
How Often Cyber Attacks Occur On Businesses
The best way to assess the likelihood of a cyber attack on your company is to review the cyber attack statistics by year. These statistics are useful when comparing the likelihood and impact of cyber attacks on businesses. Unfortunately, in recent years, small businesses tend to be disproportionately affected by cyber attacks.
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Percentage Of Cyber Attacks On Small Businesses
About 43% of cyber attacks affect small businesses, meaning that many of these businesses can make significant losses due to the financial impact of cyber attacks. And 60% of these businesses shut down operations within six months of an attack.
Why Hackers Target Small Businesses
Small businesses are targeted by hackers because these businesses often lack established cyberdefense infrastructure to defend against cyber attacks. With relatively small budgets for security, small businesses tend to rely on older security controls to save money for business growth and expansion.
The Industries Most At Risk For Cyber Attacks
Cyber attacks on financial institutions were among the most common in 2021, with ransomware being the most dangerous kind of attack. Financial institutions such as banks are lucrative targets for cyber attacks because of the enormous funds these organizations handle. These institutions are also common ransomware targets because cyberattackers recognize that most leaders willingly pay ransoms when their organizations are attacked.
Industries like healthcare are also targeted because cyber attackers can sell sensitive information on the dark web for significant financial gain. Stakeholders fear the implications of compromising data protected by HIPAA, including financial penalties and even criminal charges.
However, it should be noted that any organization that stores, transmits, processes, or comes into contact with sensitive information is at high risk, irrespective of industry. Hackers know that, more often than not, organizations will pay to keep data confidential.
The Impact Of Cyber Attacks
If they are not mitigated early on, cyber attacks can significantly impact your business.
The impact of a cyber attack on your business may range from operational disruptions to lawsuits that affect your reputation. Finally, you may have to deal with the financial implications of an attack, such as fines and penalties, especially if regulatory non-compliance is involved.
How To Minimize The Impact Of Cyber Attacks On Businesses
If a cyber attack occurs on your business, you must immediately deploy an incident response protocol to mitigate the effects of the attack. Managing the response to a cyber attack will help:
- Contain the source of the attack before it spreads to other components
- Analyze the attack to understand how or why it occurred
- Prevent a similar attack from happening in the future
- Restore the affected system to its original condition
Investing in a robust incident response protocol will help minimize the impact of a cyber attack on your business.
Cybersecurity Tips to Prevent Cyber Attacks on Your Company
Some of the most effective ways to prevent cyber attacks on your company include:
- Implementing resilient access controls such as—
- Multifactor authentication (MFA)
- Strong password use policies
- Keeping devices and applications updated with the latest security patches
- Conducting routine penetration testing of networks and systems
Considering the multitude of cybersecurity risks that could affect your business, the best cyber attack mitigation strategy is to partner with a threat and vulnerability management services provider like RSI Security.
How RSI Security Can Help
Keeping your business safe from cyberattacks requires tools that can effectively detect security risks early in their lifecycle. If attacks occur, your organization must be prepared with the appropriate defenses. If you are a business leader asking, “what’s the likelihood of a cyber attack on my company?” RSI Security’s team of experts will help you conduct an extensive threat and vulnerability assessment and help manage any threats to your systems.
Contact RSI Security today to learn more!
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What Is CVE in Cyber Security & Its Meaning
If you’re in a leadership position at your organization, you may have heard of the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) list, which breaks down cybersecurity vulnerabilities that could affect you and your employees. However, you might still be wondering, “what is CVE in cyber security, and how does it affect my organization?” Read on to learn all about CVE.
What is CVE in Cyber Security? A Beginner’s Guide
With large numbers of security vulnerabilities that change each day, keeping your organization safe from risks of data breaches starts with leveraging resources like the CVE list.
Answering the question, “what is CVE in cyber security?” starts with breaking down:
- The purpose of CVE in cybersecurity
- How entry onto the CVE list is determined
- The benefits and limitations of the CVE list
- The CVE Board and its relevance to cybersecurity
With the help of the CVE, cybersecurity implementation can be optimized and streamlined, especially when partnering with a threat and vulnerability management expert.
How is the CVE List Used?
The MITRE Corporation, with funding from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), has compiled a list of common cybersecurity vulnerabilities and made them available to the public. Any organization can share or obtain information about these vulnerabilities from the CVE to optimize its security controls.
The Difference Between a Vulnerability vs. an Exposure
In the context of CVE cybersecurity, a vulnerability is any gap in your security controls that a cyber attacker can exploit to deploy a cyberattack. For example, a weak, easily decipherable password is a vulnerability that can result in a perpetrator gaining access to sensitive data.
In contrast, an exposure is an event you may or may not be aware of that gives a cyber attacker an upper hand in successfully launching an attack on your IT infrastructure. For example, the discovery of a flaw in a recently released security patch that allows attackers to bypass specific controls could cause your organization to be at risk of a cyberattack if action isn’t taken soon.
One way to think about the differences between these closely related terms is through proximity. While vulnerabilities are most often internal and specific to your IT infrastructure, exposures typically involve external events that can impact that infrastructure.
What is the Purpose of CVE?
CVE was established to help any organization with IT infrastructure remain up-to-date with security threats identified across the broader cybersecurity community. By collecting hundreds to thousands of threats from across the globe, the CVE functions as a centralized repository for vulnerability management.
Organizations can learn about any CVE vulnerability that has previously been identified and optimize their security controls accordingly. And, these entities can check for the latest versions of vulnerabilities, ensuring their security remains up-to-date with current security risks.
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How CVEs Are Determined
Per the CVE Program, an issue is considered a vulnerability if it “violates the security policy” governing the product or service. Once a CVE Numbering Authority (CNA) receives a complaint about the CVE, only then is the reported vulnerability considered for the CVE list. If the CNA responsible for reviewing a CVE request finds that the vulnerability or exposure is not legitimate, the CVE will not be considered, and a CVE ID is not assigned.
Common Vulnerabilities And Exposures Standards
When determining CVEs, the following criteria must be met:
- Any CVE assigned a CVE ID must be made public.
- The product or service affected by the CVE must not be publicly available.
- The CVE must require collective customer or group action to address.
Streamlining the addition of CVEs to the CVE list makes it easier for organizations to access a curated and refined list of CVEs.
About CVE Identifiers
For each vulnerability considered for the CVE list, a CNA will assign a CVE identifier, which is typically a combination of alphanumeric characters that distinguish one CVE from another. CVE identifiers streamline collaboration on CVE security and help all the relevant stakeholders (e.g., customers, vendors, security professionals) share insights on vulnerabilities and exposures.
The Benefits & Limitations of CVEs
In terms of benefits, you can rely on CVEs to optimize your security controls.
By leveraging the large collection of vulnerabilities and exposures, you can gain fast insight into potential security flaws in your IT infrastructure. You can also integrate the CVE into your existing threat and vulnerability management infrastructure, improving overall threat detection.
For instance, certain programs can be optimized to detect vulnerabilities and exposures based on intelligence captured from the CVE list.
However, one of the biggest limitations of the CVE list is that many vulnerabilities are not promptly assigned CVE identifiers. As such, you may not have the most current information about recent vulnerabilities and exposures. Furthermore, not all vulnerabilities are listed on the CVE. Cyber attackers may leverage more recent vulnerabilities or exposures that have not been documented yet. Usually, there is a backlog of vulnerabilities waiting to be added to the CVE list.
There are so many vulnerabilities that it is challenging for the CVE to document all of them.
What is The CVE Board?
The CVE board is responsible for strategically overseeing the structure of the CVE program and setting rules and policies for its operations. IT security leaders from different industries are represented on the CVE board to ensure meaningful discussions regarding the best approaches for identifying CVE vulnerabilities.
The Latest Version of the CVE List
The CVE list is frequently updated with the help of CNAs, who add and publish new CVEs. The best way to keep track of all the CVEs is to periodically check the latest version of the CVE list.
On this database, you can search for CVE records and download them.
CVE Frequently Asked Questions
How Many CVEs Are There?
The total number of CVE records, at the time of writing, is 185697. However, this figure may not be current; it changes each year as CNAs add more vulnerabilities and exposures to the list.
The best way to check how many CVEs exist is to check the latest version of the CVE list.
What is The Difference Between CVE and CVSS?
Whereas the CVE provides a list of common vulnerabilities and exposures that may affect the security of your organization, the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) scores some of these vulnerabilities. The CVSS can therefore be used as a resource for scoring common vulnerabilities according to the relative severity of risks involved on a scale of 0.0 to 10.0.
The more severe a vulnerability is, the higher its Base Score is. The most recent CVSS has five categories of severity, ranging from “None” (0.0) to “Critical” (9.0–10.0).
Can Hackers Use CVE to Attack My Organization?
Yes, hackers can use CVE to attack your organization.
While it works to your benefit to identify vulnerabilities, hackers are also on the lookout for which of these vulnerabilities they can exploit. The open-source nature is a double-edged sword.
Do All Vulnerabilities Have a CVE?
No, not all vulnerabilities have a CVE entry. Some of them have not been added to the CVE list by CNAs. Others have not yet met the criteria to be considered for this list.
Who Can Submit a CVE?
Any organization can submit a CVE, provided it meets the CNA rules.
If you happen to identify a new vulnerability, whether it has previously been discovered or not, and have contacted the vendor about this vulnerability, you may be able to submit a CVE.
Where Do I Report CVE?
You can report CVE on the CVE Program website by requesting a CVE ID.
However, to fully submit you report, you will be asked to fill in some information about the CVE, and if accepted as a CVE by a CNA, you will be notified via email.
Final Thoughts—CVE and Vulnerability Management
At each stage of the vulnerability management lifecycle, your organization must be prepared to understand vulnerabilities and their potential impact. So, what is CVE in cyber security?
Answering this question requires an assessment of the factors that determine CVEs and how best these vulnerabilities and exposures can be managed with guidance from a threat and vulnerability management specialist like RSI Security.
Contact RSI Security today to learn more and get started!
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DDos Attack Prevention – How to Stop a DDos Attack
Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are becoming rampant as more companies provide more of their services online. As you hear of reports about surges in DDoS attacks, you may be wondering how to stop a DDoS attack from affecting your site. Read on to learn more. (more…)
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How Can an Attacker Execute Malware Through a Script?
Scripts are common strategies for cyber attackers to deploy malware onto targets’ devices. Without knowledge of how these attackers execute malicious scripts, your organization might be at risk of a cyberattack. You may be wondering: how can an attacker execute malware through a script? Read on to learn how. (more…)
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Get The Most out of Compliance Audit Services
Compliance audit services can help your organization satisfy necessary requirements based on your industry’s regulatory standards. When organizations are noncompliant with regulations, they can face costly consequences, including compromised data, fines, or litigation. By auditing and monitoring compliance standards within your organization, you can achieve the necessary compliance(s) to ensure you and your personnel can all proceed with business as usual. (more…)