To understand cybersecurity, it’s useful to think about how you secure your home.
First, you consider the various ways burglars could get in. For example, they could smash a window, pick a lock, or even knock on your door and pretend they’ve come to read your gas meter.
Then you address each risk. For example, you fit window grilles and strong locks, and always ask strangers for ID before you let them in.
In cybersecurity, ways of breaking in are known as attack vectors. Understanding your organisation’s attack vectors is crucial for developing strategies to protect against them.
Attack vector definition
An attack vector is a specific method that cybercriminals use to infiltrate your organisation’s networks, accounts, or systems.
Attack vectors aren’t security weaknesses. Rather, they’re the tactics and methods that cybercriminals could use to exploit vulnerabilities and cause harm.
What’s the difference between attack vectors and attack surfaces?
It’s also important to understand the difference between attack vectors and attack surfaces.
Your organisation’s attack surface comprises all the possible entry points that cybercriminals could pass through. These include:
- Physical attack surfaces, such as buildings and equipment.
- Digital attack surfaces, such as your IT systems and user accounts.
- Human and social engineering attack surfaces, such as people falling for phishing scams and giving away their passwords or other sensitive information.
That is, attack surfaces identify where attackers could get in, whereas attack vectors identify how.
Attack vectors in cybersecurity
To protect your organisation, you need to address its possible attack vectors. These can range from technical exploits to psychological tactics such as phishing or social engineering.
Ignoring an attack vector is like leaving a door unlocked. It means cybercriminals could gain access to your systems and data, commit fraud or account takeover (ATO) attacks, or disrupt your operations.
For your business, the consequences of an attack can be serious and long-lasting, including financial losses, reputational damage, loss of customer trust, and legal or regulatory penalties.
Types of attack vectors
Physical attack vectors
Physical attack vectors involve direct access to hardware or facilities.
For example, stealing laptops or mobile devices, gaining unauthorised access to offices or data centres, or tampering with equipment.
Digital attack vectors
Digital vectors target your software and networks. For example:
- Exploiting unpatched vulnerabilities as points of entry to your systems and networks.
- Deploying malware, such as ransomware, from malicious downloads or email attachments to steal data or disrupt your operations.
- Using compromised credentials, such as stolen or weak passwords, to sign into your organisation’s systems and accounts.
Some digital attack vectors are made possible by leaked data or compromised credentials. For example, cybercriminals obtain usernames and passwords that they can use for an ATO attack. Alternatively, they gather information about specific people working at an organization to carry out spear phishing attacks.
Social engineering attack vectors: Phishing, pretexting, and baiting
With social engineering, attackers use psychology to trick their victims into doing something. For example, revealing their passwords or other sensitive information, installing malware, or granting them access to systems or locations.
The attackers pressurise their victims into action using emotional triggers. For example, respect for authority, willingness to help, or fear of negative consequences if they don’t act.
Common social engineering attack vectors include:
- Phishing: Fake emails or text messages designed to pressure the victim into action, often threatening trouble if they don’t act promptly.
- Pretexting: A type of phishing where the attacker impersonates someone that the victim trusts. For example, their boss, an important client, or even a friend or a family member.
- Baiting: Luring the victims with false promises. For example, malvertising, which uses fake banner ads to entice the victims into clicking malicious links or downloading malware.
7 strategies to strengthen your security against common attack vectors
When you’ve identified your organisation’s unique attack vectors, you can build your defences proactively to block each vector before attackers exploit it.
An effective cybersecurity strategy combines awareness, physical security, and digital safeguards to protect against multiple attack vectors.
- Update and patch software and apps promptly: Fix software flaws before attackers find them. Regularly update and patching your software.
- Enable multi-factor authentication: Add an extra layer of security to all your systems and accounts.
- Provide regular security awareness training: Ensure everyone in your organisation understands common threats and knows how to spot and report potential phishing messages.
- Control physical access: Use security badges to restrict access to your premises and monitor sensitive areas with cameras. Encrypt your laptops and devices in case they’re lost or stolen.
- Enforce strong, unique passwords and update them regularly: Passwords can fall into the wrong hands in various ways. Just one compromised password can be enough for attackers to break in and cause chaos. Mitigate the risk by practicing good password hygiene and avoiding password reuse.
- Use a Cyber threat intelligence (CTI) and credential monitoring solution: CTI solutions such as Cybercheck continuously monitor for exposed passwords, credentials, and personal data, providing early warning to stop attacks before they breach your defences. If cybercriminals are trading information about you or your organisation, we immediately alert you. That means you can change passwords, block cards, and act to shut out the attackers before they make you their next victim.
- Conduct regular security audits: As technology evolves, attackers are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and new threats are emerging. Test your defences regularly for new or overlooked vulnerabilities.
