What are criminal hackers?
Criminal hackers can show up at your door in no time. How do you reduce the chance of a hack at your company? Tozetta is happy to help.
Tozetta specializes in ethical hacking. People often have an image that ''hackers'' are bad. As a hacker you can use your skills for bad or, conversely, good projects. In this blog we tell you more about criminal hackers. These hackers often have the same skills as ethical hackers, only these people use their knowledge for malicious purposes. They abuse technology to carry out illegal activities, such as stealing personal data, gaining access to protected computer systems, and causing damage to computer systems.
Although most hackers don't carry out criminal activities, criminal hackers can cause damage by disrupting the security of computer systems. These hackers are also called black hat hackers.
How do hackers operate?
Criminal hackers use various techniques to gain access to computer systems. For example, they might download a malicious program that creates a security hole. With this, they can gain access to sensitive information such as financial data or personal data. Criminal hackers can also use malware to infect computer systems, resulting in a loss of data and possibly also a decrease in system performance.
Besides malware, phishing is also a commonly used tool by criminal hackers. Phishing is a technique in which the hacker sends emails or pop-ups to targets. These often contain false information intended to lure the user into providing important information. Think of a fake login page where an employee has to create a new password.
The result can be that the hacker gains access to the company network with the login credentials. From there, the hacker continues on their way to, for example, obtain sensitive information. The hacker can then resell this data or use it as a means of blackmail.
How do you prevent becoming a victim of hackers?
To protect against criminal hackers, it's important to increase the organization's cybersecurity. There is often no single tool or way that can fully protect you against criminal hackers. However, there are a number of measures your organization can take to increase cybersecurity. This reduces the chance of a possible hack at your company.
Security software
Security software such as antivirus programs and firewalls can help detect and block malicious activities. Users can also regularly update their software to prevent their computers from being infected with malware.
Cybersecurity awareness
It's also important that employees are alert and aware of cyber risks. Train employees so they can recognize phishing attacks and other fake emails or websites. You can read here how to make your organization more resilient against phishing attacks. For now, it's important that if your colleague receives an email with a suspicious link or attachment, it should not be opened or downloaded.
Password policy
Criminal hackers can cause damage by gaining access to computer systems and stealing sensitive information. As an organization, you always want to prevent a hacker from gaining access to your company network. A hacker can gain access if weak passwords are used, or if they are not replaced in time. To prevent them from gaining access, a strong password policy is enormously important.
Pentesting and other cybersecurity measures
A pentest is carried out by an ''ethical hacker''. This is a hacker without malicious intentions who, with your consent, exposes vulnerabilities within your company network or application. An ethical hacker operates the same way as a ''real hacker''. Except the ethical hacker reports their findings and shares them with your organization. This way you can reduce the chance of a hack.
Besides pentesting, there are many more options to increase the cybersecurity of your organization. In our blog ''5 Cybersecurity Tips'' we give you even more tips on increasing your digital security.
Preventing cyberattacks
It's no secret that hackers come knocking on the door in no time. On CyberCrimeinfo.nl you can see multiple cyberattacks being carried out on companies every day. Hackers haven't been sitting still in recent years, and the threat keeps growing.
Tozetta is here to improve your cybersecurity. So want to know more about ethical hacking and pentesting? Check out our pentest page or get in touch without obligation. We're happy to think along with you about your digital resilience!