Cyber attacks are becoming more complex and more challenging to prevent. However, technology is improving, and it’s possible to mitigate attacks with the right tools.
Understanding the anatomy of a data breach can help you prepare for and protect against these threats. This article will look at the critical components of an attack.
Reconnaissance
The first stage of any successful attack involves gathering information. Reconnaissance patrols usually accomplish this. Surveillance may be conducted in the form of an area or zone patrol. An area reconnaissance patrol is a squad-size mission focused on a single objective (road junction, bridge, hill) and the surrounding territory. This is often based on templated IPBs and enables scouts to provide detailed intelligence about enemy dispositions.
A zone reconnaissance patrol covers all the possible dismounted avenues of approach within a defined area. A scout platoon typically sends an entire squad on a zone reconnaissance patrol.
There are a variety of factors why and how data breaches happen. Employees’ accidental sharing of personal information is standard, as is unauthorized access by malicious insiders who intend to share the information for nefarious purposes. It can also result from malware-infected devices that share files with other evil devices. Malware can pass data back and forth between infected machines and their command and control infrastructure. Fortunately, this attack can be stopped by blocking outbound communications and file and data pattern uploads through internal sinkholes.
Exploitation
Data breaches occur when confidential, private, or protected information is copied, transmitted, viewed, or stolen by an individual not authorized to do so. This is also known as exfiltration.
The attacker researches their target and looks for weaknesses to exploit. For example, they may stalk employees on social media to learn more about the company’s infrastructure or systems. They might also find a security vulnerability and scan the company’s network for points of entry.
They then move through a sequence of privilege escalation and lateral movement, trying to improve their position and access until they have the desired data. The final step is “exfiltration”- the attack moves the data from the organization’s network.
Cybercriminals can then use personal information to steal identities, wreak havoc with credit ratings and banking accounts, or sell it on the dark web for profit. In addition, a breach could expose critical information to foreign parties, such as military operations or details on essential national infrastructure. The damage is significant for both individuals and businesses. Many consumers associate a business with a data breach incident, and the company is left to repair its reputation and financial bottom line.
Expansion
A data breach is a cybersecurity mishap that results in sensitive, confidential, or protected information being accessed by an unauthorized person. It can be as simple as an employee saving a file in a non-secure location or as complex as a cyber attack on corporate systems by cybercriminals. It may involve personal health information (PHI), customer or employee data, proprietary information, passwords, and other privileged credentials.
Once an attacker gains a foothold in an organization’s network, they often exploit the information they have access to for various purposes. Some attackers use the breach to make money by selling hacked data, while others are looking for credentials that they can use to gain further access within the network.
In addition to exposing a company to financial loss and loss of customer trust, many breaches also put companies out of compliance with government and industry mandates. This can result in fines, legal action, and reputational damage. Examples include the Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2018, where millions of Facebook profiles were used to target political ads, and Edward Snowden’s release of secret documents that revealed extensive spying by the US National Security Agency.
Access
Whether an attacker gained entry through a phishing attack, stolen credentials, malware, or even a rogue employee, once inside your network, their modus operandi is almost always to seek out privileged accounts. These unmonitored access points allow attackers to act like an insider with complete visibility and control of your data.
Once an attacker gains access to a privileged account, they’ll often use a technique known as brute force to guess passwords to gain full access to your data. It is not uncommon for a single hacker to gain a breached organization’s entire database of personal information (PII) within just a few minutes.
Microsoft Access is a relational database management system that allows users to create tables, queries, forms, and reports. It also includes macros that enable advanced data manipulation. It’s ideal for department solutions that require advanced reporting capabilities. After a breach, check your access solution to ensure you haven’t created vulnerabilities that hackers could exploit. Also, look at your network segmentation to see if a violation on one server or site can spread to another.
Extraction
When the attacker gets access to the targeted system, he can extract data. This data might be proprietary or personal and may include credentials allowing him to get higher privileges inside the network. This step might be done by an external hacker or a disgruntled former employee who retains credentials to a company’s sensitive systems. In many cases, the information is then sold on the black market to cybercriminals who use it for various malicious purposes.
Data extraction could be more efficient and requires regular human oversight and know-how. This is especially true for businesses that deal with varying types of invoices from different suppliers who use different layouts, formats, and field naming conventions. However, there are a few ways to streamline this process to be more efficient and less risky. One way is to use data extraction tools that can automate obtaining and storing data. This allows your team to focus on more critical tasks that add value to the business.
