Tips on Predicting Cyber Threats

More than likely you've heard the media report some alarming statistics about malware infections and data leaks. Rather than getting worked up about these problems, however, there are a few basic steps you can take to protect yourself. Most of these are common sense tips you've heard thousands of times before, but what you might not realize is the fact that you can predict cyberattacks before they happen.

One of the best ways to predict cyber threats is through the use of predictive security software that can discover data breaches before they become a problem. These solutions are powered by machine-learning algorithms that do much more than simply look for signatures left by crackers.

That makes them one of the three most popular ways to predict cyber threats in a modern operating environment.

1) Install Artificially Intelligent Predictive Security Suites

More than 50 percent of data breaches remain undiscovered for months according to information collected as part of a national study. Botnets and innovative new types of malware are able to attack a system without leaving any noticeable calling cards.

Predictive security software uses data collected from studies regarding these attacks to figure out the potential odds of a breach occurring. If an attack seems imminent, then they spring into action to secure whatever potential hole they detected. For instance, if a program was granted administrative access to a network and predicted a potential problem it could close any ports deemed a possible threat.

AI-enabled security programs can lock both traditional hosting environments as well as cloud-based VPS hosts.

2) Don't Rely on Security by Obscurity

For years sysadmins were convinced that Unix-based environments were inherently safe, and nothing could go wrong inside of a locked down GNU/Linux box. That being said, new vulnerabilities have reared their ugly heads that have shown this not to be the case. For instance, a flaw in systemd code last year left many servers in an unsafe state. Unix systems are still very safe, but you need to run security software on them just like anywhere else.

If you want to predict the possibility of an attack on these platforms, then make sure to follow the regular bulletins your distribution sends out.

3) Perform a Regular Heuristic Analysis

While the term heuristic analysis is normally associated with traditional computer antivirus solutions, it's started to take on something of a new meaning. While some newer open-source security apps aren't necessarily capable of predicting whether or not a malevolent code is going to appear, they can execute pieces of code found in a file system within a special virtual machine where it can't do any permanent damage. This can tell your IT department much more about whether or not an attack is imminent provided they're capable of reading the output.

No amount of technology can make up for lapses in judgment. If anyone in your place of business has made poor decisions such as setting weak passwords, then it quickly becomes easy to predict an imminent attack for all the wrong reasons. Don't neglect the fact that educating your fellow computer users can do more than all the sophisticated software in the world.