Digital threats are created across the internet and used to damage brands on a 24/7 basis. These threats come in all shapes and sizes, whether on social media, third-party mobile app stores, or any surface or dark-web location. The damages caused can be far-reaching, ranging from ransomware, reputational damage, or loss of revenue.
Responding to these threats against global businesses, brands, and exposed executives requires equally diligent and comprehensive monitoring, across all channels, always. This must be overlaid with relevant threat intelligence, before integration into an organization's security environment and SOC workflows. This allows any gains to be realized efficiently and measurably.
Digital Risk Protection is a branch of external cybersecurity specializing in the detection and removal of threats faced by brands, businesses, or executives.
Threat actors create, or even automate the creation of, phishing and impersonation across the internet targeting these entities. The threats target the brands, using stolen Intellectual Property, Trademarks, Logos or other business assets. The aim is to impersonate the brand and ultimately scam customers, employees or stakeholders.
Such malicious activity is prohibited on the internet, with ICANN enforcing copyright legislation. This ensures that web hosts expedite the removal of offending content. Likewise, social media platforms are obliged to remove fraudulent content from their platforms. These threats have no place on the internet; they can be removed, and your business needn't suffer.
The first step in securing any brand is to identify the offending content across all platforms. Phishing pages cause the most damage during the first active days. Given this, fast detection is vital. Using a variety of measures, including keyword heuristics, reverse-based image search, weblog tracking, and source code watermarking, it is possible to detect fraudulent content. These advanced threat detection methods provide reliable, instant identification of phishing activity, allowing a real-time view of the threats faced by an organization.
Following identification and confirmation of the live threat, a legal process of escalation can be followed with the web host or third party. Given sufficient evidence, the threat will be removed in a process that should take around 24 hours. Once removed, continuous monitoring on the URL should be employed to ensure that the threat will not resurface, or cause any further damage to the brand or its stakeholders.
While the surface web is a hotbed for phishing and impersonation fraud cases, brands are also commonly exploited in other areas of the internet. Frequently, threat actors will exploit or steal client data, profiteering from this information on the dark web.
There is a wide variety of stolen data available on dark and deep web locations. This includes login credentials, credit card details, bank information, PII, sensitive documents and more. Threat actors continually exploit vulnerabilities, utilizing malware to acquire data from brands.
In combating these threats, businesses must be diligent in ensuring that extensive monitoring of their dark web activity is employed. 24/7 monitoring of these channels and penetration into threat actor groups is key to this intelligence effort. Once identified, these insights can be used to ensure that any threat or vulnerability is mitigated and appropriately managed.
As a premier Managed Security Services Provider, Aujas Cybersecurity collaborates with iZOOlogic to deliver unparalleled solutions 24/7 from the ISO-certified Cyber Defense Centers (CDC) for diverse industry verticals in North America, India, and the Middle East. The combined solutions and services will enable enterprises to manage their online security strategies, provide assurance and integrity, reduce fraud risk, maintain compliance, establish trust, and protect the online brand reputation.