Why Do Malware Target Many Companies, What's the Solution

Cyberthreat.id - Cases of document-based malware continue to increase, even more, 59 per cent of attacks in the first quarter of 2019 are contained in documents. The most affected victims are companies, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) because they do not have good protection.

In fact, being a victim of file-based malware can cause big problems. Because attacks that damage important data on an organization's computer will force companies to stop operating, resulting in financial losses. In addition, there will be legal problems due to the spread of personal data and financial data of its customers.

Certainly, SMEs still invest very little in cybersecurity. Fortunately, a new malware removal solution has emerged to deal with file-based attacks. Providers of odix security solutions even received a 2 million euro grant from the European Commission recently to increase its pace of bringing technology to SMEs.

Here are some ways how SMEs can reduce file-based attacks as written by The Hacker News.

1 - Disarming Malware

File-based attacks involve malware that is hidden in documents that appear to be legitimate. The malware activates immediately when the user opens the file. Depending on the payload, malware can destroy or steal data. Many organizations continue to rely on antivirus to deal with this attack.

However, hackers now use more sophisticated polymorphic malware that automatically changes to avoid signature-based detection used by antivirus. Companies can also use air-mapped sandbox computers to scan and test documents, but this often requires special hardware and personnel to manage.

Disarming The malware appears as the preferred way to prevent file-based attacks. Unlike conventional antivirus and sandboxes, such solutions can carry out advanced scanning that can detect sophisticated malware.

Not just scanning files, the documents are cleaned, the dangerous code is eliminated. odix, for example, uses TrueCDR (content disarm and reconstruction) technology to ensure that files can be used perfectly after cleaning.

2- Email with a Strong Spam Filter

This year, there is an average of 293 billion business and consumer emails per day. This number is predicted to rise to 347 billion by the end of 2023. So clearly spam continues to be an effective method of cyberattacks. People clicked on the link in 14.2 per cent of spam emails in 2018.

Office email is very open. Employees tend to click on spam email links and download and run potentially dangerous attachments.

Some small businesses might rely on free email accounts that come with their website hosting packages. Unfortunately, such accounts are often insecure and do not have the security and filtering features needed to filter out a malicious e-mail.

To thwart this the threat, companies can integrate more stringent spam filters that can protect all corporate inboxes by blocking spam emails.

A tougher step is to adopt solutions like odix Mail. This acts as a mail proxy for the company mail server. All attachments contained in the incoming email were intercepted. Then it is scanned and sanitized using an odix core machine. After these files are cleared, they are reconnected to the message and finally sent to the intended recipient's inbox.

3 - Alert Flash Drive

Flash drives, external webcams and other USB peripherals can be armed to infect devices or networks. However, employees tend to connect media and devices without much attention, thinking that antiviruses can easily check for malware through real-time security.

Unfortunately, hackers can cleverly disguise malware on this removable media to avoid standard scanning. Armed USB is also used to penetrate even air-conditioning systems.

SMEs can fight USB-based threats that ensure that no unauthorized personnel can connect USB peripherals to their computer systems. Network and operating system policies can be defined to hold privileges that allow the insertion of removable media on the workstation.

As an alternative, companies can use tools such as the Odix Kiosk product which is a special file sanitation workstation where users can insert removable media.

The kiosk acts as a gatekeeper for all files contained in USB and disk drives. These documents are checked and cleaned of potential threats, ensuring that no dangerous files from the media have ever been sent over the network. The sanitized file can then be sent to the user's email.

4 - Training to Avoid Phishing

Preventing file based attacks also require users to change their mindset and behaviour. Including ensuring that they do not fall into social engineering attacks such as phishing.

Phishing is a fraudulent practice of sending deceptive emails to extract personal and financial information from unsuspecting victims. The many uses of email also make it one of the preferred cybercriminal methods.

Phishing emails are carefully crafted to mimic real correspondence from reliable sources such as government offices, HR, or financial institutions.

SMEs must provide appropriate training for employees to recognize suspicious emails and links. Staff must also be trained to always check any files downloaded online or from e-mail for security and legitimacy.

Having a solution such as odix in place helps minimize the potential for company exposure because tasks such as checking attachments and working documents are automatically performed. However, paying employees with the right knowledge about how to use technology resources safely and adequately.

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