Cybersecurity threat mitigation: prevention and protection

Staying updated with threat mitigation tactics and emerging vulnerabilities is a cornerstone of modern cybersecurity and a necessity of any hosting provider. Businesses often face various cyber attacks, such as phishing emails, ransomware, and infrastructure breaches.

These threats aren’t mere inconveniences — they can result in substantial financial losses, reputation damage, and legal implications.

Emerging technologies like cryptocurrencies, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence and machine learning offer benefits such as decentralized finances, smart devices, and enhanced data analytics. However, they also introduce security challenges, including hacking and data breach vulnerabilities.

This guide will explore cybersecurity threat mitigation, why it’s important, types of cyber threats, and how to prevent attacks and protect your digital assets.

What is cybersecurity threat mitigation?

Cybersecurity threat mitigation (or just “threat mitigation”) involves the strategies, tools, and workflows organizations use to identify, prevent, and minimize digital threats to mission-critical company data or networks. It’s a proactive approach to managing security risks. The overall process breaks down into three distinct stages.

1. Prevention: This initial stage identifies an organization’s current security weaknesses in order to devise a prevention strategy to stop threats before they materialize. Prevention steps might include implementing robust firewalls, using encryption, and regularly updating software to patch known vulnerabilities.
2. Detection: The detection phase involves identifying cyber threats as quickly as possible, ideally before they cause damage. This stage relies heavily on advanced monitoring tools and threat intelligence systems that can recognize unusual patterns or behaviors within a network. Early detection minimizes the potential impact of a security breach.
3. Remediation: This final stage involves responding to identified threats. Remediation typically includes isolating and repairing damage, as well as implementing measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. It’s a critical phase to determine how well an organization recovers from a security incident.

Why is cybersecurity threat mitigation important? 

Cyberattacks are a reality that can strike any organization. In 2022, 83 percent of organizations faced more than one data breach, with a global average cost of $4.5 million per incident. 

Cyberattacks are costly and have short- and long-term effects. Investing in threat mitigation is often less expensive than dealing with the aftermath. For example, the week following their hack revelation, Okta’s market cap plummeted by approximately $6 billion.

Threat mitigation protects more than finances. It safeguards your business in many ways. 

• Protecting sensitive data: It has never been more important to safeguard customer data, proprietary information, and other critical assets from unauthorized access or theft.
• Maintaining business continuity: Cyber attacks can disrupt operations, leading to costly downtime. Proactive threat mitigation ensures continuous operations and minimizes interruptions.
• Preserving reputation: News of a security breach can spread rapidly, damaging an organization’s reputation. Strong threat mitigation practices maintain customer trust and protect brand image.
• Remaining compliant with regulations: Many industries have strict data protection regulations. Threat mitigation practices are necessary to meet compliance requirements and avoid hefty fines.
• Addressing insider threats: Insider threats pose risks. Mitigation focuses on identifying and preventing security risks from within the organization, whether malicious or accidental.

Eight types of cybersecurity threats

Understanding various cybersecurity threats helps develop effective mitigation strategies. Here are eight threats your organization should know.

1. Malware attacks

Malware refers to malicious software, viruses, worms, and trojans that infiltrate systems, steal data, or damage networks. A recent example of this is the Clop group attack in 2023, which affected Shell, the New York City Department of Education, and the University of Georgia.

2. Phishing attacks

These social engineering attacks trick users into revealing sensitive information or clicking on malicious links. With over 1.6 million unique phishing sites in Q1 2023, this attack is increasingly common. Social media, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and financial institutions are the biggest targets for phishing. 

3. Data breaches

Data breaches occur when sensitive information is exposed or stolen due to network vulnerabilities. The December 2023 Real Estate Wealth Network breach exposed over 1.5 billion records of property ownership data.

4. Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS)

These attacks flood systems with traffic, rendering them inaccessible to legitimate users. In 2023, Google, Amazon, and Cloudflare suffered a major DDoS attack.

5. Ransomware attacks

Ransomware encrypts a victim’s files and demands payment for the decryption key. The Colonial Pipeline attack disrupted fuel supplies in the southeastern United States, resulting in a $4.4 million ransom payment.

6. Zero-day exploits

These attacks exploit newly discovered vulnerabilities before patches are available. For example, the 2017 WannaCry ransomware attack impacted over 200,000 computers across 150 countries and caused billions of dollars in damages. Attackers used the NSA’s zero-day exploit toolkit, specifically the EternalBlue exploit, to carry out the attack.

7. SQL injection

This technique inserts malicious code into SQL statements, potentially giving attackers access to sensitive database information. In late 2023, it compromised two million email addresses from 65 websites. The Heartland Payment Systems breach exposed over 100 million credit and debit cards via SQL injection.

8. Insider threats

Do you remember the 2013 Edward Snowden case, in which classified NSA documents were leaked? That’s an excellent example of an insider threat. These attacks often come from within an organization due to malicious intent or negligence. A 2023 report showed that malicious insiders were responsible for an average of 6.2 incidents per year, each costing an average of $701,500.

Ten ways to mitigate security risks and threats

Now that you understand why cybersecurity matters, along with its types, let’s dive into practical ways to keep your organization safe.

1. Conduct a cybersecurity risk assessment

Perform a cybersecurity risk assessment to identify the threats your organization faces, how likely they are to occur, and what damage they can cause. The risk assessment results will determine your organization’s readiness to respond to security events and uncover your infrastructure’s vulnerabilities to common attacks like phishing, malware, brute-force attacks, and ransomware.

Any cybersecurity risk assessment should include these steps.

• Determine the assessment scope: Do you include your entire infrastructure or just specific vital systems?
• List all digital and physical assets and their potential threats.
• Analyze each threat’s likelihood and impact on your organization.
• Consider the results of the analysis and decide whether to avoid, transfer, or mitigate each risk.
• Create a risk register listing identified risks and mitigation steps. Review and update regularly.

Tools like the NIST Cybersecurity Framework provide a structured approach to conducting these assessments.

2. Create an incident response (IR) plan

An IR plan is a documented set of tools and instructions to help your team quickly identify, deal with, and recover from cybersecurity threats. It ensures you have the right people, processes, and technologies to resolve issues and minimize damage.

Here are some things to consider when creating your IR plan.

• Identify critical systems for business operations.
• Identify potential risks and enumerate threats to critical systems.
• Develop risk-handling procedures for identifying risks.
• Define IR team roles and assign specific responsibilities to each team member.
• Educate team members on their role requirements.
• Create information-sharing guidelines among the IR team, staff, and stakeholders.
• Regularly evaluate and refine the IR plan based on test results.

3. Train your team

Human elements contribute to 85 percent of data breaches. The best way to reduce the likelihood of your team becoming a security risk is to train team members regularly.

Consider these points when implementing a security awareness training program.

• Include cybersecurity training in the onboarding process for new team members.
• Have all staff attend regular refresher training programs.
• Develop training content that teaches staff how to identify and respond to security threats.
• Conduct live fire exercises for employees to practice learned skills.
• Secure management support to increase program adoption.
• Update the curriculum regularly with new threats and mitigation strategies.

4. Monitor and protect your network traffic 

Weak network security leads to breaches. Monitor traffic for intrusions and configure firewalls and threat intelligence systems to detect and stop various attacks. This monitoring applies to outbound and inbound traffic, as rogue employees can leak sensitive information from your network. 

Implement these best practices to reduce vulnerabilities.

• Configure firewalls to allow only necessary traffic.
• Restrict firewall access to administrators.
• Enable logging of all network and administrative activity.
• Use a VPN to encrypt connections between remote locations.

5. Enforce the use of strong passwords

Passwords control access to restricted resources and information. Stronger password systems lower your risk of unauthorized access from weak, man-in-the-middle attacks, phishing emails, and brute-force attacks.

To strengthen your passwords, maintain a strong password policy.

• Require minimum password length and complexity.
• Implement two-factor authentication.
• Schedule regular password changes.
• Set account lockouts after repeated login failures.
• Use password managers to prevent insecure password storage.

6. Install security patches and updates

Vendors constantly release product updates for operating systems, antiviruses, and other widely used software. Installing these updates is essential to the continued use of your applications and protects you from newly discovered viruses, malware, and third-party vulnerabilities.

Here are some considerations to help you stay ahead of threats.

• Automate updates for antivirus and antimalware programs.
• Schedule critical security patches for operating systems to install when available.
• Run updates on test instances for sensitive systems before deploying to your live environment.

7. Encrypt and backup your data

Backups are critical to ensuring business continuity after a crisis. Encryption adds another security layer, protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access. These strategies can prevent data loss from ransomware attacks, breaches, or human error.

Here’s how to mitigate security risk and adopt backup best practices in your plan.

• Use remote storage for backups.
• Schedule frequent backups.
• Create a data retention schedule.
• Use RAID for data storage.
• Implement multiple backup solutions.

8. Pay attention to physical security

Physical security is equivalent to digital security for organizations hosting their IT infrastructure. Improving physical security can reduce the risk of social engineering attacks, physical theft, and disgruntled employees causing chaos.

Strengthen your physical defenses with these measures.

• Restrict server access and log all activity.
• Install cameras and security doors in sensitive locations.
• Disable physical ports on servers.
• Train staff on equipment security, including devices that fall under a bring-your-own-device policy.
• Establish procedures for disabling stolen/missing devices.

9. Monitor your vendors

Your organization likely uses products or services from external vendors. Their security policies can impact your cybersecurity readiness, especially if their services are critical to your operations. Third-party vulnerabilities are a common attack vector for hackers.

Keep these in mind when monitoring your vendors.

• Set minimum security standards for vendors and monitor compliance.
• Ensure they meet legal regulations for your industry.
• Have data backups and redundancy plans in case of system failures.

10. Comply with industry regulations

Regulatory agencies enforce strict compliance with information security regulations. For example, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) provides strategies to prevent credit card fraud and unauthorized access to sensitive data.

Always ensure you are compliant with security regulations.

• Identify cybersecurity regulations for your industry.
• Regularly review compliance requirements.
• Take necessary steps to reach full compliance.

What are the emerging trends in threat mitigation? 

As the malicious actors evolve their methods, so do the technologies and strategies for mitigating their potential risks.

Here are some emerging trends to watch.

AI and machine learning

These technologies increasingly detect anomalies and potential threats in real time, often identifying issues that human analysts might miss.

Behavioral analytics

This helps organizations spot potential insider threats or compromised accounts more easily by establishing baselines of normal user behavior.

Cloud-native security

Security solutions for cloud environments are becoming essential as more organizations move to the cloud.

Zero trust architecture

This model assumes you trust no user or system by default and requires verification from everyone trying to access network resources. It ensures the security and reliability of your network resources.

Threat mitigation FAQs

Let’s tackle some of the most common questions about threat mitigation to ensure you have the knowledge you need.

How can small businesses with limited resources implement effective threat mitigation?

Focus on basics first: Keep software updated, use strong passwords and multifactor authentication, train employees, and consider cloud-based security solutions, which can be more cost-effective for small businesses.

How often should I conduct a cybersecurity risk assessment?

At a minimum, conduct a comprehensive assessment annually. However, assess your IT infrastructure or business operations after significant changes.

How can I tell if I am a target for a cybersecurity threat?

If you think your company’s network may be under a cybersecurity attack, look for these signs.

• Standard programs don’t open or work properly.
• Files are missing.
• Passwords change unexpectedly.
• Unknown software has been installed.
• Emails contain spelling errors or are from suspicious addresses.

What should I do if I think I have been the victim of a cybersecurity attack?

If you think you’ve been the victim of a cyberattack, you can contact the National Cybersecurity Alliance for additional advice or support. You can also report an incident to the state-level cybersecurity organization in your home state.

If an incident occurs at work, contact your internal IT department. The system administrators and technical staff will have protocols that you should follow to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

Embrace proactive threat mitigation with Liquid Web

Threat mitigation is not just a technical issue — it’s a business imperative. Regular risk assessments and robust incident response plans form the backbone of effective cybersecurity. But remember that security is an ongoing process, not a one-time effort. Effective cyber threat mitigation demands vigilance, adaptability, and a commitment to continuous improvement. 

By prioritizing threat mitigation like ThreatDown endpoint protection and adopting a proactive stance, you will protect data and your organization’s future — and gain a competitive advantage. Contact us today to request a quote.