When cyber threats disguise themselves as seemingly trustworthy applications, websites, forms, emails, or software, it’s easy to fall into the trap. We interact with links designed to steal sensitive information, putting personal, financial, or corporate data at risk.
Today, identity theft is the king of cyber threats. However, it is just one of the many dirty tricks cybercriminals have up their sleeves, affecting both unsuspecting users and corporate giants, every day.
According to La Nota Económica, four out of ten people in Colombia have fallen victim to digital fraud, and in the last three years attempts at this crime have increased by an alarming 859%. Mexico is not far behind either: the INEGI reports that fraud, both bank and consumer, was the “best disguised crime in 2023”, accounting for 21% of the total.
Cyberthreats in Latam: where cybercriminals are most busy
In 2022, health care providers in Colombia, such as Sanitas, Audifarma and Salud Total, were victims of cyber attacks. In the case of Sanitas, sensitive data was exposed, including medical records, IDs, telephone numbers and addresses of around 242,000 affiliates. Audifarma had to shut down its technological infrastructure, while Salud Total’s systems were altered, affecting its service capacity.
When cyberthreats When cyberthreats masquerade as legitimate activities, they can attackthey can attack cloud environmentsThis can put security at risk and expose sensitive information. Factors such as configuration errors, infrastructure failures and insufficient monitoring can be exploited to access critical data or carry out malicious actions.
Another very common case occurs when cyber threats are disguised as legitimate websites.which often turns out to be phishing. According to figures presented by the global cybersecurity company Kaspersky, phishing in Latin America has increased sixfold, with Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador being the countries most affected by this crime.
Companies affected by this type of fraud often see their websites cloned in order to steal users’ personal information, tricking them into downloading malware or revealing sensitive data, putting their security at risk. No trick or treat, cyberthreats are doing their thing in Latin America.
Large-scale cyber threats
On the other hand, there are cyber threats capable of compromising entire systems. If the threat disguised as a secure form, the company could fall prey to a SQL Injection attack. SQL InjectionSQL Injection attack, where cybercriminals exploit database flaws to access or alter sensitive information that can lead to a data breach.
The above is the result of another disguised cyber-threat: seemingly trustworthy software or attachments seemingly trustworthy software or attachments that, in reality, can open the door to Exploits. These are attacks that exploit vulnerabilities or errors in software or hardware to gain unauthorized access or cause damage.
In any case, data loss has significant economic repercussions for companies. The report Cost of a Data Breach 2024 IBM points out that the average cost of a breach is $4.88 million. “This increase is attributed to the rising cost of operational disruption, loss of customers, and subsequent responses such as strengthening customer service and paying higher fines.”
How to protect yourself from “disguised” cyberthreats
There are advanced solutions that guarantee complete control over your data. From our experience, we share with you the most successful ones:
- Developing a cybersecurity strategy focused on protecting data, rather than just the perimeter or infrastructure, is key to meeting today’s challenges.
- With a data-centric strategy, you have full control over your information, no matter where it is located. Through encryption, tokenization and secure key management, we ensure that data is only accessible by the right people.
- With CypherTrustYou can ensure that access is restricted to those who need it, preventing unauthorized access. Furthermore, when implementing the methodology Zero Trustsignificantly reduces the risk of information leakage, protecting your organization’s most critical data.