Can you imagine that, suddenly, you lose all the information of your business or the ability to access it? Or have them monitor corporate emails, spoof your identity, make fraudulent charges to company accounts, or even turn computer monitors into surveillance devices? Being one of the companies that suffer cyberattacks is more common than you think. And small and medium-sized companies are even more vulnerable, the target of almost 50% of intrusions.

To prevent any risk, it is important to know how the main threats that the online holds for companies work in order to take all the pertinent measures.

That is why today we will talk about the main entry routes for cyber threats:

1.INTERNET

There are pages that contain viruses that are installed on our computer. They are presented through messages that ask us to install a plugin to display the content, advertising windows or pop-ups with gifts that announce that you have won a prize … etc. All these messages are nothing more than virus techniques to infect your computer. 

2. MAIL

In the case of e.mails, viruses can disguise themselves in the mail received or be present in the attachments, since they have macros (a set of instructions that are created for a program to perform them automatically and sequentially). Within these instructions, viral code (malicious code) can be inserted.

Viruses can also be found in executable files (files with the extension .exe, .com, etc.)

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3. EXTERNAL DEVICES

External devices may contain executables that, when connected to our equipment, encrypt, infect or attack our computer. In this sense, we must be very clear about where the external device comes from and if we can trust the person who provides it. 

The virus infection can occur the other way around, that is, when leaving our external device to another person, it is attacked by a virus that will later transfer us to our computer. In addition, it must be taken into account that both pen drives and external hard drives do not have a write-lock as a general rule, so it is easier to be the target of attack if they are connected to an infected computer. It should be added that there are programs precisely to block them, so that the content cannot be accessed or modified.

4. SOCIAL MEDIA

Social networks are also a source of viruses, either by direct message where, for example, an unknown user tells us about a photograph where they have tagged you with a link to the virus in question, or through publications that catch our attention they turn out to be links to malicious or virus websites that attack the computer or mobile device.

5. P2P APPLICATIONS

Other of the most common ways through which the computer is infected are P2P applications. Millions of users use the Internet to make illegal downloads of music, movies, applications, etc., so that the only thing that crackers need is to upload a virus and name it after a well-known and new movie. Thus, once the file is downloaded and you open it, it will infect our computer.

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6. THE COMPUTER NETWORKS

At the corporate level there is a clear tendency to connect computers through a central network. The consequence of this is that the number of entry routes available for viruses and other threats has multiplied.

All computers connected to a computer network carry out thousands of daily information transactions, both internal and external. Any file infected by a virus or other threat can enter and leave the network through each of the connected computers if they are not properly protected.

7. ONLINE CONVERSATION SYSTEMS

These systems, such as Skype or WhatsApp, allow the user to communicate with different people simultaneously and in real time. It is a common file-sharing channel and therefore an ideal setting for infection cybercriminals.