Project management comes with many responsibilities, deadlines, late-night shifts, and a lot of coffee.
Luckily, you can stay on top of your game with a bit of help from your buddy: project management software .
With that in mind, communication has never been simpler, easier, or quicker, leading to a more productive and successful team.
Remote project management helps the project managers connect hybrid teams and ensure everyone works together to accomplish the project’s goals. On that note, it is no different from managing any other project, except that the project is carried out remotely.
And managing and operating a remote team brings up a delicate issue:increased cybercrime risk.
With that being said, let’s take a look at the five biggest cybersecurity threats project managers face today and ten ways to tackle them!
5 Biggest Cybersecurity Threats in 2024 Cybersecurity can make or break a business .
Companies function on data, and data is the company’s most valuable asset. However, in today’s digital world, data has become more vulnerable to cyberattacks, and with the hybrid and remote work arrangements, that vulnerability is even greater.
The rise in data breaches and hacks can be attributed to a lack of data protection, the consequences of a global pandemic, and an increase in the sophistication of exploits. Businesses are now more aware than ever of the problems that data breaches can create.
One of the data breaches that paved the way for the new EU legislation was the Wonga Loans case. This payday loan company experienced a significant data breach in 2017 that exposed the bank information of 250,000 customers.
Here are the most significant cyber threats you should be aware of and tips on how to prevent them.
1. Man in the middle
Imagine this scenario: you and your colleague are talking via a secure platform, but someone is eavesdropping on your conversation and sending fake messages to your colleague from you. Yikes!
The idea behind this is that the hackers gain access to personal and sensitive data, and manipulate the messages.
It could happen if you use an unsecured public Wi-Fi network. When the hacker is inside the insecure location, they will get access and send malware to find sensitive data. They can also pretend to be a customer or a business partner, or anyone, really.
Example of a man-in-the-middle attack
Recently, a threat actor got 500 certificates for websites such as Google, Skype, and other prominent sites thanks to a hack at the Dutch registrar site DigiNotar. By using these certificates, the attacker impersonated trustworthy websites in a MITM attack and stole users’ data by tricking them into providing their credentials on mirror websites. The breach ultimately led to an impact on about 300,000 Iranian Gmail accounts and to DigiNotar declaring bankruptcy.
2. Classic SQL injection
Let’s say you’re preparing for your holiday and want to buy a Hawaiian dress. You open your web browser and type “Hawaiian dresses” in the search bar. If the search bar is infected by injecting malicious code, it will still give you a list of Hawaiian dresses, but it will use your question to find your personal info. 😬
A hacker uses a piece of SQL code to alter a database and get access to potentially important information in a cyberattack known as SQL injection. Given that it may be used for any web application or site that makes use of a SQL-based database, it is one of the most common and dangerous types of attack.
Example of a SQL attack
Some victims of this type of cyberattack include Sony Pictures, Target, LinkedIn, and Epic Games. The Cisco case from 2018 is one of the most widely-known attacks. They found an SQL injection vulnerability in Cisco Prime License Manager.
Attackers were able to get shell access to the systems where the license management was deployed. But fear not. Since then, Cisco has managed to patch the issue.
Although this bug is old enough to drink now, we still can’t squash it for good. It’s considered one of the oldest cyber threats and yet, it still causes just as many problems.
3. The growth of malware
It’s all fun and games until you download malware and help the hackers get all your personal data. Malware sums up all files or programs that cause harm, and it covers worms, trojans, viruses, and ransomware.
By 2021, 68.5% of companies experienced malware attacks. The reports show the increase was built on the rise of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Additionally, the criminals moved away from automated ransomware campaigns that focused on the scale to more targeted extortions against well-established businesses. Due to this change, ransomware became more profitable, eventually catching the attention of criminal gangs.
The increased use of this new extortion technique caused the ransomware outbreak to worsen.
Via Statistica
Example of a malware attack
One of the most famous attacks was the WannaCry ransomware attack managed to infect more than 230,000 computers in a day and resulted in a loss of $4 billion.
4. Sophisticated phishing techniques
Phishing is a form of social engineering in which an attacker sends a false message intended to trick the person into giving up personal information or installing harmful software on the victim’s infrastructure.
Example of a phishing technique
Ubiquiti Networks, unfortunately, suffered a phishing assault in 2015 that cost the business $46.7 million. The attacker authorized the company’s chief accounting officer to make a series of transfers to finalize a secret acquisition.
The hacker posed as the company’s CEO and attorney. The company made 14 wire payments over a period of 17 days to accounts in Poland, Hungary, China, and Russia.
Ubiquiti was first aware of the issue after it received a warning from the FBI that its Hong Kong bank account may have been the target of fraud. This made it possible for the business to halt all upcoming transfers and make every effort to recoup as much of the $46.7 million, roughly 10% of the company’s cash, that had been taken.
5. Frequent Denial-of-Service attacks
This type of cyber attack can cause a network shut down and will make it inaccessible to users. The hackers could have political or social goals, for example, launching a campaign against a company whose activities they don’t like.
Sometimes, hackers use DDoS attacks just for fun and to brag about the newest techniques they’ve developed to bring down a system.
Example of a Denial-of-Service attack
In February 2020, Amazon Web Services was the target of a massive DDoS attack. This was the most severe DDoS attack in recent history and it used a method called Connectionless Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (CLDAP) reflection to target an unnamed AWS customer.
The amount of data delivered to the victim’s IP address is increased by 56 to 70 times using this technique, which is dependent on vulnerable third-party CLDAP servers. The attack peaked at an astonishing 2.3 gigabytes per second over the course of three days.
10 Ways to Tackle Cybersecurity Threats
Hackers are becoming more and more creative and are making us sweat.
To help you combat these threats, here are ten ways to help defend and protect your business against potential cyber threats.
1. Choose a secure project management tool and cloud storage service
Project management tools are must-haves nowadays, especially for tracking the progress of your project and improving team communication. However, not every work tool available today is secure.
When we saysecure, we mean a platform with the proper authorization measures to minimize information leaks.
Download ClickUp to access on any device, anytime ClickUp is one of the most secure collaboration tools available today. It provides a secure environment, while also being mindful of application performance and the overall user experience.
In fact, it has continuously achieved SOC 2 compliance, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, and ISO 27018 certifications. These ISO certifications prove ClickUp’s commitment to keeping their customer data protected and their preparedness to support customers of all sizes across the world.
Take a look at its security features: Two-factor authentication is a Chief Marketing Officer at Internxt , a zero-knowledge cloud storage service based on best-in-class privacy and security.