What Are External Security Threats in Cybersecurity?

According to Cybersecurity Ventures, cybercrime would be the world’s third-largest economy (after the U.S. and China) if measured as a country as its damages may total $9.5 trillion globally in 2024. 

While this may be a surprising stat, it should reiterate the importance of your cybersecurity plan and solutions. External threats play a large part in digital threat landscape, and like the name suggests, external threats are those that come from outside of your organization. If external threats make their way into your organization, they can wreak havoc by disrupting business, compromising data, and causing financial losses.

What Are the External Threats to Cybersecurity? 

External threats can take many forms, including:

• Phishing - Fraudulent attempt to get sensitive data such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by disguising as a trustworthy entity through digital communications.
• Account Takeover Fraud (ATO) - Unauthorized access to an online account usually obtained through compromised credentials.
• Executive Impersonation - Threat actors masquerading as executives on social media or using Business Email Compromise (BEC) for the purposes of stealing credentials, damaging popular brands, or causing financial damage.
• Look-alike Domain - A spoofed domain intended to fool users into thinking it’s the legitimate domain. The domain can look like the real domain but may have subtle differences (“0” versus “o”).
• Social engineering – An impersonation tactic where threat actors trick people into sharing their personal information.
• Social media spoofing - Impersonating a social media account created to mislead or trick people for malicious intent. Threat actors will use profile photos and usernames similar to the account they are spoofing.

Oftentimes, external threats target the customers of an organization. In turn, your brand can suffer reputational harm and financial losses when your customers are targeted. 

On the other hand, these threats can compromise the security of an organization's network and data. The disruption to day-to-day business can be devastating while the data breaches, and financial losses can be catastrophic. Fortra’s threat research recently did a deep dive into bank smishing that displays the diverse threats that can present challenges to users when identifying and recognizing signs of a cyberattack. 

What Are Internal Threats to Cybersecurity? 

Internal cybersecurity risks come from inside an organization like data breaches caused by mishandling of information or unauthorized access to sensitive data. These threats differ from external threats as they come from internal threats. 

Similarly to external threats, internal threats can cause a great deal of damage to an organization and need to be handled quickly and effectively. Some of the associated risks with internal threats include:

• Data loss, which can cause legal and financial ramifications
• Regulatory and compliance risks such as violations to GDPR and HIPAA
• Reputational harm that comes from customers’ and partners’ loss of trust

All threats, internal and external, come with great risks and need to be considered when reviewing cybersecurity plans and solutions. 

What Are the Top Types of External Cyberattacks?

In order to defend against external security threats, the threats need to be understood. Here are some of the most common types: 

• Phishing – Fraudulent attempt to get sensitive data such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details by disguising as a trustworthy entity through digital communications. The consequences can lead to unauthorized access to accounts, financial losses, and even identity theft.
• Ransomware – Encryption of a data that makes it inaccessible until a ransom is paid to the threat actor for decryption keys. The consequences can lead to disruption, financial losses, and sizeable data loss for organizations.
• Account takeover – Unauthorized access to an online account usually obtained through compromised credentials. The consequences can lead to disruption, financial losses, and sizeable data loss for organizations.
• Look-alike domains – A spoofed domain intended to fool users into thinking it’s the legitimate domain. The domain can look like the real domain but may have subtle differences, such as “0” versus “o.” The consequences can lead to disruption, financial losses, and brand damage.  
• Compromised credentials – Credentials obtained by someone other than the owner. These compromised credentials could be usernames, passwords, and any other authentic credentials exposed from a cybersecurity breach and sold on the dark web for nefarious purposes. The consequences can be things like identity theft for customers and loss in brand trust.
• Crimeware – A type of malicious software designed to carry out or facilitate illegal online activity including stealing bank information. The consequences can lead to financial losses and brand damage.  

Threat actors exploit the various vulnerabilities to carry out these attacks. Some of these vulnerabilities include: 

• Use of legitimate email services to send scam emails
• Free site providers and domains leveraged for look-alike domains
• Legitimate websites with content management system (CMS) vulnerabilities that are leveraged to host credential theft sites 

The list of threats and vulnerabilities tactics only amplifies the importance of staying informed about the latest external cyber threats to implement effective security measures and protect customers. 

External and Internal Threat Protection

The importance of implementing robust security measures to protect against external and internal threats is vital for the safety of your organization. 

The integrations of cybersecurity tools, employee training, and proactive security measures are the security measures needed to mitigate external threats. They provide organizations the protection to handle vulnerabilities and threats wholly. 

• Security tools – Detect, prevent, and respond to threats and vulnerabilities efficiently
• Employee training – Informing employees to recognize and respond to threats makes them well-informed and, in turn, reduces the effectiveness of cyberattacks
• Proactive security measures – Preventing threats before they occur by implementing strategies in anticipation

Continuous monitoring and updating of security protocols will help your organization stay ahead of evolving cyber threats, because “the best defense is a good offense.”  

Addressing external security threats is essential for protecting your organization’s assets, financials, and reputation. The significance of understanding external threats also helps your organization stay compliant with regulations, keep your daily operations moving, evolve with the everchanging threat landscape, and develop more effective security policies. Eternal security threat knowledge forms the foundation of a strong cybersecurity posture.