Common Types Of Network Security Vulnerabilities In 2022

Cyber attacks become more and more sophisticated every year and cause serious financial and reputational damage. The damage affects all means of communication and blocks an organization for an extended period. For example, two of the most significant encryption viruses are Petya and Wanna Cry. They caused millions of losses in different areas of business around the world and showed the vulnerability and insecurity of the network infrastructure of even large companies. The protective measures were simply not provided. In most organizations, information security was limited at best to the installation of the antivirus. At the same time, there are hundreds of types of attacks that might occur every day, and the power of the consequences is only growing.

Network Security Vulnerabilities You Should Pay Attention to in 2022

There are a lot of varieties of network attacks. Here are just the most common, which can face both small businesses and large corporations in 2022:

1. Network intelligence. Information from an organization's network is gathered through freely available applications. For example, with the help of port scanning - an intruder scans UDP- and TCP ports used by network services on an attacked computer. Then the intruder determines the vulnerability of the attacked computer to more dangerous types of intrusions.

2. IP spoofing. Hacker posing as a legitimate user.

3. Mail bomb. Failure of a mailbox or an entire mail server.

4. DDoS attack. Denial of service when normal users of a site or portal cannot use it.

5. Man-in-the-Middle. Infiltration into the corporate network to receive packets transmitted within the system.

6. XSS attack. Infiltration of users' PCs through server vulnerabilities.

7. Phishing. Deception by sending messages from an assumedly familiar address.

8. Use of specialized applications. These are viruses, Trojans, rootkits, and sniffers.

9. Buffer overflow. Searching for software or system vulnerabilities and further provocation of memory violation, application termination in emergency mode, and execution of any binary code.

10. Intrusion attacks. These are network attacks aimed at hijacking the operating system of the attacked computer. This is the most dangerous type because if it is successful, the attacker completely takes over the operating system.

Protective measures against such attacks are based on continuous monitoring of everything that goes on in a company's network. It also includes immediate response to the first signs of illegitimate users, open vulnerabilities, or infections.

Forecasts in the World of Network Security

What's in store for the world of cybersecurity in 2022? Key predictions:

• A shift in target specialists. In recent years, large companies have been experiencing a shortage of network security professionals. Today, IT professionals are being replaced by managers. Managers, although strong in business processes, do not have sufficient skills and knowledge in the field of cybersecurity. This requires additional training and gaining experience as quickly as possible.    

• Technology-enabled solutions. Attempts to implement automation and robotics have been implemented before, with controversial results. Today, technology is improving, which should lead to an effective network security system for companies with minimal expertise. 

• Biometrics only. All Windows user passwords will be removed. Instead, only multi-factor authentication will remain. This is convenient for both companies and users, as passwords are not only inconvenient but can often be cracked under cyber-attack. The only downside is that hackers are constantly looking for new ways to hack password managers, so they will try to hack this system as well.

To keep yourself safe in 2022, the first thing to do is to test your entire infrastructure for basic network cybersecurity. 

Main Principles of Network Security

Among the fundamental principles of corporate network security are the following:

• Protection of devices connected to the network. To reliably protect devices connected to the network, you need to use modern high-tech solutions. For example, computers that can be attacked by viruses should be protected with reliable anti-virus software and set up automatic updates of their signature databases to minimize the risk of attack.

• Network devices should be fault-tolerant and allow for quick recovery. It is important to systematically monitor your infrastructure to see exactly what state a particular device, application, or service is in and to implement safeguards to protect it as needed.

• Network capacity must be continuously monitored. If an attack occurs, it always costs a lot of money to get a system up and running again. Therefore, you need to use protection against targeted attacks and infrastructure intrusion prevention techniques. This will minimize the risks of success for the attackers and also minimize the cost to the company of data recovery.

• The company's local network should be fault-tolerant and allow for quick recovery in case of need. It will not be possible to protect the network 100% under any circumstances, but you can provide a quick transition from one resource to another in case of failure of the first.

• Third parties.  Security attacks by third parties will become more frequent.  Companies today trust independents and outsourced workers more than in-house professionals.  The trend is only gaining momentum.  Providing sensitive data about production systems can become a backdoor for attackers to work and lead to the loss of important information.  It will be inevitable if you do not start thinking differently.

•  Questions about cyber hygiene.  This is an important part of the life of any company and its employees, as well as all remote workers and freelancers.  Surprisingly, many still neglect cyber hygiene and use public Wi-Fi connections without any protection for accessing the network and work processes.  In 2022, there is a chance to take a more meticulous approach to this issue and educate society in the vein of “how to use Wi-Fi correctly?”  and “how to secure data while working in a cafe?”.

Work through each of the principles to ensure the highest possible level of security. Please do not ignore this problem and do not learn from your own mistakes; otherwise, there is a risk of losing important data and paying many times more money for their recovery. 

By working on data security, you avoid possible problems and financial losses in the long run.