Cyber threats that companies of all sizes have to deal with, including Volkswagen Slovakia

Over the past few years, the number and severity of cyberattacks on organizations have increased significantly. These attacks come in many forms, including ransomware, distributed denial of service (DDoS), data breaches, insider threats, and more. As a result, cybersecurity teams are under enormous pressure to reduce risk to their organizations.

The Volkswagen Slovakia team faced the same problem, whose growing complexity of IT and OP networks forced them to start implementing new strategies including security monitoring and anomaly detection. The more complex the IT and OT infrastructure, the greater the surface area for cybercriminals to attack. Therefore, Volkswagen Slovakia was looking for a flexible security tool with the ability to monitor security throughout the enterprise.

What are the typical threats that companies of all sizes will face in 2024, including Volkswagen?

Expansion of the attack surface

The trend towards hybrid work environments has accelerated the dissolution of traditional network boundaries. With more people working remotely, an increase in connected devices, the adoption of cloud-based services and the complexity of supply chains, securing networks using conventional methods such as firewalls and threat detection (NDR) technologies is no longer effective. As a result, it is extremely important to have technologies such as network detection and response to constantly monitor all network activity in real time.

An increase in the number of attacks and defenses using artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the cybersecurity landscape. Both attackers and defenders use its capabilities. Cybercriminals are using artificial intelligence to automate attacks, create more complex malware, and avoid detection. However, AI also provides cybersecurity tools, helping to detect threats in real time, better diagnose incidents, and automate responses to problems faster.

Ransomware

In 2024, ransomware will continue to be a significant threat to organizations of all sizes. Cybercriminal ransomware-as-a-service resources that are widely available to anyone have lowered the barrier to entry for those looking to profit from these types of attacks. Individual ransomware attacks are also becoming more sophisticated.

Vulnerabilities in the supply chain

Upstream and downstream business partners in the supply chain can be sources of cyberattacks. This means that threats from connected IT systems – and even emails – need to be quantified and mitigated.

Phishing and other social engineering attacks

Research shows that the weakest link in the security chain is people. We all make mistakes and this fact should be taken into account in cybersecurity planning. Sophisticated social engineering attacks such as phishing emails remain an effective source of data collection for future attacks.

IoT security vulnerabilities

Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and devices are growing almost exponentially in the built environment and manufacturing. Some of these IoT devices have notoriously poor security. We've all heard of cases where a series of devices were shipped with the same administrator account and password. One that often doesn't change during deployment. This expansion of IoT devices increases the attack surface, which introduces easily exploitable vulnerabilities. If IoT devices have access to other network systems, this can open a backdoor to anyone who knows the default account settings.

Solution

There are several specific products of the Flowmon solution that the Volkswagen Slovakia team decided to implement. These include the Flowmon Anomaly Detection System (ADS) for locating anomalies in network communication protocols - for example, if inconsistent proxy server communications occur, Flowmon ADS is deployed to find, investigate and remediate any threats.

Other use cases for Flowmon include NetFlow collections, locating traffic from configuration management servers, and checking office and client activity. This makes your workflow more efficient by locating and remediating security anomalies in complex infrastructure.

Summary

It is impossible to provide 100% cybersecurity protection that prevents attackers from compromising your security. Therefore, it is worth investing in 24/7 NDR analysis systems that will help detect anomalies and quarantine suspicious systems. If the attack comes from cybercriminals, you can help prevent it more effectively.

Contct us to discuss your needs or take advantage of a free trial to learn how our solution can start protecting your networks in one day.

You can see the entire material from the Volswagen Slovakia case study here.