The impact of legacy vulnerabilities in today’s cybersecurity landscape
The digital revolution has irrevocably transformed the way we live, work and interact with each other and has brought data protection and cybersecurity to the forefront of business interests. With this interconnectedness comes an increasingly large attack surface for malicious actors to target. The temptation for companies looking to combat these threats is to focus resources, efforts and attention on headlines associated with the “unknown”: AI, new, zero-day cyber threats that have not yet been extensively studied or successfully deployed in the wild have been contested. .
Naturally, for many security teams, identifying and mitigating these threats, especially in the age of AI, will be an absolute priority, with concerns surrounding the extent of the financial damage and operational impact they can cause. However, for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), exploiting known vulnerabilities – sometimes several years old – still poses a significant cybersecurity challenge. In short, vulnerabilities are weaknesses in systems, applications, processes, and even human behavior that attackers can exploit to gain unauthorized access, steal sensitive data, or disrupt operations.
These vulnerabilities come in many forms. Programming errors and software bugs can create openings for attackers to inject malicious code or bypass security controls. Improperly configured systems or devices leave them exposed to unauthorized access or tampering. Weak passwords, the bane of cybersecurity professionals everywhere, can be easily cracked or stolen, giving attackers access to accounts and networks. Deceptive tactics, known as social engineering, can trick users into disclosing sensitive information or clicking on malicious links.
The consequences of exploited vulnerabilities can be devastating. Data breaches expose sensitive customer information, intellectual property or financial data, leading to financial losses, reputational damage and even legal and regulatory consequences. Ransomware attacks, an increasing scourge, encrypt critical data and halt operations until a hefty ransom is paid. Disruptions caused by cyber attacks can cost companies millions of dollars and significantly undermine consumer confidence.
Executive Director of Threat Research, SonicWall.
The Vulnerability Landscape: Older methods still dominate
Of course, it remains necessary to dedicate resources and time to identifying and mitigating emerging threats, but new data confirms that existing vulnerabilities remain one of the biggest cybersecurity challenges facing SMBs. SonicWall’s Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) data from January 2022 to March 2024 reveals the following top 5 most widespread network attacks targeting small businesses:
- Log4j (CVE-2021-44228) (43%)
- Fortinet SSL VPN CVE-2018-13379 (35%)
- Cardiac hemorrhage (CVE-2014-0160) (35%)
- Atlassian CVE-2021-26085 (32%)
- Vmware CVE-2021-21975 (28%)
Of the top five most common network attacks against SMBs, the “newest” vulnerability was almost three years old, while the oldest were more than a decade old – which is primitive when you consider the modern threat environment. The results are a stark reminder to CISOs and cybersecurity leaders that they should assess organizational threats based on their own current threat landscape, and specifically the top cybersecurity risks facing their organizations – rather than getting caught up in the latest media buzz.
Given the level of knowledge and widespread availability of available patches, this tactic may come as a surprise to security teams. However, there are several factors that make exploiting known vulnerabilities valuable to attackers. It is often the case that cybercriminals try to take the path of least resistance when carrying out cyber attacks, which means testing known exploits, for which they have developed particularly powerful techniques, before moving on to more time-consuming and strategically planned intrusions.
For SMEs, especially in highly regulated or critical sectors, balancing the need to keep their existing technology suite functioning with the financial costs and skills required to patch known vulnerabilities means that many of these vulnerabilities will remain open indefinitely. remain in danger. For SMEs, this makes the use of Managed Service Providers (MSPs), who can apply testing, knowledge, leading tools and set up automated patches, particularly attractive.
How can small and medium businesses reduce the risk of known exploits?
The fight against cyber threats is an endless exercise. Vulnerabilities emerge all the time and attackers are relentless in their attempts to exploit them, even years after they were first identified. This underlines the critical nature of staying aware of threats, quickly patching vulnerabilities and implementing a layered security approach.
For SMBs, building a more secure digital future requires a combination of a strong leadership-level cybersecurity strategy and the intelligent application of MSPs who can deploy the gold standard of cybersecurity tools and knowledge and help reduce the risks of known vulnerabilities.
Ultimately, cybersecurity leaders must ensure they adequately prioritize threats and allocate resources and time specifically based on the amount of risk an organization faces. This prioritization is an important step in ensuring the strongest possible cybersecurity. This requires a fundamental understanding of the specific risk landscape each sector faces, and avoiding being swept away by the latest, scariest AI trend.
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