About Cyber-attacks, Hacktivists, and Security Solutions

March 28, 2016 / Arielle Adler

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In the 21st century, cybercrime is rampant with hackers stealing and using data from individuals, companies and governments for their personal, financial or political gain. In particular, government agencies and large corporations are prime targets for organized hacker groups (“hacktivists”) such as Anonymous.

For example, this group has been orchestrating its annual April 7 cyber-attacks on US and Israeli targets consistently for the last four years; it is widely anticipated that 2016 will be no exception. The Anonymous attack pattern includes targeting the websites of government agencies and major corporations with mega DDoS attacks with the objective of taking those websites down for as long as possible, causing extensive financial and reputational damages.

Organizations and governments around the globe are well aware of the ongoing cybercrime wave. Major cyberattacks impact well-known brands, governmental agencies, and enterprises of all sizes including their employees. Those in charge of information and data security frequently attend exhibitions, seminars and webinars, and read industry reports to stay ahead. Since the cost of attacks can be daunting, both financially and to the brand, organizations around the globe should be aware of the risks of DDoS attacks and protect themselves. Those that invest in a comprehensive defense program significantly minimize their exposure to those risks. They should deploy effective anti-DDoS and security solutions, as well as continually educate their employees on ways to use the Internet safely and securely for both professional and personal use.

Although it is virtually impossible to be 100% protected against the impact of cyberattacks, security solutions have come a long way since the dawn of the Internet. Anti-DDoS  and anti-malware solutions have proved to be highly effective in warding off attacks – even at the scale and sophistication of the Anonymous ones. Those solutions are able to identify the threats, mitigate them and monitor new ones.

A nice example of how an effective security solution works, is the case of hacktivists threatening to disrupt the Catalonian elections in 2015 using DDoS attacks. CTTI, the agency responsible for the Catalonian infrastructure, deployed ServiceProtector to protect its networks in real time, and prevented potential high-volume attacks before any damages were incurred.

Information security is no longer the concern of just a few in the organization. On the contrary, each and every employee should be educated about the risks of online behaviors while the organization as a whole takes measures to effectively protect itself against multiple cyber-risks before they impact the network. And it can be done!