Every day we hear about new attacks by hackers on companies, organizations, and even individuals. The worrying thing is that fraudsters are constantly developing new tools and using increasingly sophisticated techniques to attack their victims. Most of the time, they are able to bypass traditional security systems. These hackers do a very careful job. They monitor the movements of their victims, through social media and their online activity in general. Then, depending on the target, they develop malware, which is difficult to detect. Within a few hours, they can destroy a company, either by paralyzing its systems or by denying employees access to data.
Security experts are preparing the next generation of tools that will help them deal with sophisticated hacker attacks and protect companies.
The so-called cyberthreats are designed to destroy or bypass the security measures that companies use to protect their systems. Traditional antivirus programs are not always effective in dealing with threats. New generation threats also require new protection systems in order to be dealt with. Palindrome Consulting CEO Ilan Sredni says: “Advanced security systems include the use of artificial intelligence tools that will be able to understand any type of malware. It is the only way to stay one step ahead of threats.”
Hackers have long managed to exploit, in various ways, the most basic services used by businesses, such as Microsoft Excel and Word. Through them, they can install malicious software. However, security soon discovered their techniques and were able to counter the attacks. So hackers began to find new ways to attack. This happens all the time. Attackers find new techniques to infect systems, and when experts deal with them, they discover other more complex techniques. However, this means that companies must be constantly vigilant if they want to be protected.
What is next-generation protection?
It is not easy to give a specific definition of next-generation protection. In essence, by this term we mean all the products and strategies that can offer a more comprehensive protection against new threats. It is a systemic approach that leverages machine learning for greater protection, uses cloud-based computing to detect threats and other suspicious activities, immediately initiates the response process and determines the extent of the breach.
All of this is essential to preventing threats. Traditional security measures are effective for some threats, but they certainly won't be effective for new generation malware.
Metamorphic Malware and Polymorphic Malware
At the moment, there are two facts. The first is that hackers are increasingly using so-called metamorphic and polymorphic malwares, which are difficult to detect. The second fact is that more and more dark web markets are giving access to malicious code. These two, together, have created a large number of difficult-to-detect malicious software. What is the difference between the two malicious software? Metamorphic malware is more dangerous than polymorphic, because the internal code is constantly changing, as a result of which it cannot be easily detected. Dealing with this type of software requires security solutions that can monitor suspicious activities and analyze them and be able to stop them or at least notify the administrator.
Ways to protect against new threats
So how can we protect ourselves from threats? Here are some measures a business can take to reduce the chances of an attack:
- Change passwords at regular intervals.
- Implementing two-factor authentication.
- Multi-layered protection: use of antivirus/malware/spyware/ransomware and cloud DNS security to protect the network.
- Employee training regarding threats and the correct way to handle systems.
- Using a program that detects ransomware attacks and allows the network administrator to restore the network to a state prior to the attack.
These are all very simple steps that all businesses can take to strengthen their security. Adopting a holistic approach to security is essential. But first, companies need to understand the magnitude of the risk from new generation threats so they can take the appropriate protective measures.
