Why Do Simple Cyber Attack Methods Work?

With all of today’s advancements in technology and tools that we talk about, why would cyber criminals employ low-tech cyber attack methods?

The latest Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report found that low-tech cyber attack methods paired with new technology continue to work for them, and make it easier to evade detection until it’s too late.

Here are the key takeaways of the attack types mentioned and why they are successful:

• Cyber threat actors, and even nation-state threat actors have been sending infected USB drives under the guise of fake companies to infiltrate networks with malware
• QR code phishing, or ‘quishing’ inside of emails including using them for two-factor authentication has been exploited
• Continued use of AI tools to generate harder to discern phishing emails

Cyber threat actors continue to use tactics that have an unfortunately high success rate while putting a new spin on them with new technology that can fly under radars without proper vigilance. That can cause major disruptions to your network, reputation and more without proper detection methods in place to catch them before it’s too late.

With attacks that can evade detection, here are some other important lessons to remember:

• To err is human
  • The human element will account for a high number of network breaches, which emphasizes the importance of cyber awareness training

• To forgive is divine
  • Make sure to create an environment where organization members feel safe reporting an instance where they may have clicked on a potential phishing email so it can be handled before it gets worse
• Third-party network monitoring is essential to thwart cyber attacks
  • Continuous network monitoring of your attack surface remains the best way to detect anomalies within your network that may occur if one of these attack methods breach your network

As we see cyber threat actors continuing to attack networks with well-known, low-tech methods while applying new, dangerous tools, it continues to be a matter of when, not if, your organization is targeted or attacked.

Reach out to our cyber experts today to get more information about the importance of continuous network monitoring.