Three major retailers in the UK have been victims to cyberattacks in the past couple of weeks, with Harrods, the Co-op and M&S have been forced to restrict or partially shut down business operations as a result.
A cyberattack can cause significant issues for businesses, with M&S already experiencing a lower share price and the loss of millions as a result of the disruption. Consequently, many business owners will be wondering how to identify the potential signs of hackers and avoid being severely impacted.
How should businesses respond? According to the firm QR Code Generator PRO S.L, there are four major signs that can signal the presence of hackers. These signals have been reviewed by Digital Journal.
Unusual account activity
Strange login activity could be a sign of hackers. If a firm is receiving emails or other notifications of failed login attempts, this could be a sign of someone trying to gain access to your system. Repeated failed attempts and unusual login locations are telltale signs, especially if no employee has come forward with a login issue. Similarly, if employees are unable to log into their accounts, this could be a sign that hackers have gained control and locked users out.
To prevent this from happening, ensure that all employees have strong passwords set to their accounts. These should include a combination of capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. The more random and longer the combination, the more difficult they will be for hackers to guess. Furthermore, make sure that multi-factor authentication (MFA) is turned on for all users. This provides another barrier for hackers to overcome when they are trying to gain access.
If you think a hacker has successfully gained access to your business, immediately log out all users and reset passwords. If you identify the issue early and take this step, it may prevent any further damage.
Malware and ransomware indicators
This can include unexpected file changes, unauthorised software installations, suspicious outgoing communications, or ransomware messages. These can suggest malware infections or active cyber attacks generated by hackers.
To mitigate this issue, ensure that your business’s data is regularly backed up. This will prevent large quantities of data from being lost in the event of an attack. Implement File Integrity Monitoring (FIM), as this will track file activity, verify their authenticity and flag corruptions.
While it sounds obvious, anti-virus, security software and malware scanning tools are also essential to the safe operation of your system and should eliminate potential threats. Be sure to heed any warnings that these provide, as disregarding alerts from detection systems may allow active threats to go unnoticed. Always investigate these promptly and seek professional response services if necessary.
Sluggish system performance and network irregularities
If your system is suddenly performing poorly or is slow to navigate, this could be a sign that something is wrong. Malware can cause this issue, as well as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which flood the system with traffic, making it unusable to employees. Unexpected network activity, such as peaks in traffic outside of business hours, can also be a cyberattack red flag.
To tackle this, you should consider implementing managed cybersecurity services and regular penetration testing to identify potential vulnerabilities in your system. Deploy intrusion detection systems and firewalls, checking that they are up to date periodically, to prevent your system from being at risk.
Phishing attempts
A surge in phishing or spam emails targeting employees could mean that hackers are probing your defences in an attempt to gain access. They may appear legitimate or trustworthy and will ask you to click a link, which often downloads a virus onto your computer or tricks you into sharing sensitive or personal information, or data.
This problem can be largely avoided by providing proper phishing awareness for employees. Employees should be as informed as possible and know how to identify illegitimate emails. Implementing strong email filtering will also prevent phishing attempts from reaching employees, as they will typically be allocated to the spam box.
