What are the Types of Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities?

Cybercriminals are always attempting to exploit your computer's security flaws. While the motivations of these hackers vary, political, financial, or simply for fun/reputation, they constitute a substantial danger to your business.

According to the Cost of a Data Breach Report, based on research by the Ponemon Institute, the average cost of a data breach grew by 2.6% from $4.24 million in 2021 to $4.35 million in 2022. The average cost has increased by 12.7% from the 2020 report when it was $3.86 million.

As the threat environment evolves and develops over time, it has become crucial to be able to handle the most prevalent forms of cybersecurity vulnerabilities. A part of safeguarding your organization from current cyber threats is being aware of the many sorts of vulnerabilities that might put your network in danger, and then addressing these vulnerabilities before an attacker can exploit them.

What are some typical network security flaws, and how may they be mitigated?

In this article, we will examine a variety of cybersecurity vulnerabilities and their respective mitigation strategies.

What is a Cybersecurity Vulnerability?

In the context of cybersecurity, "vulnerability" refers to a flaw in an organization's internal controls, system processes, or information technology system, such as out-of-date software or an improperly configured network, that cybercriminals can exploit to compromise an information resource and advance along the attack path. Cybercriminals wait to exploit these vulnerabilities, and they can be easily reached through the openings they provide. After exploiting a system vulnerability cybercriminals run malicious code, steal sensitive information, and launch further attacks. Identifying the cyber vulnerabilities that exist inside an organization's systems is one of the most essential measures they can take to enhance and strengthen their overall cybersecurity posture.

Various techniques, including SQL injection, buffer overflows, cross-site scripting (XSS), and open-source exploit kits that hunt for known vulnerabilities and security flaws in web applications, could be utilized to exploit vulnerabilities.

What is a Vulnerability Database?

A vulnerability database is a platform for collecting, storing, and disseminating information regarding found vulnerabilities. Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) is managed by MITRE, which provides a Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) score to indicate the possible danger a vulnerability might pose to an organization. This centralized collection of CVEs serves as the basis for several vulnerability scanners.

The advantage of public vulnerability databases is that they enable companies to create, prioritize, and implement patches and other countermeasures to address serious vulnerabilities. However, they also result in the creation of other vulnerabilities as a result of hurriedly deployed patches that cure one vulnerability but introduce another.

The following vulnerabilities are often included in vulnerability databases:

• Insufficient auditing: Without auditing, it is difficult to determine if data has been altered or accessed. Vulnerability databases have publicized the need for audit monitoring as a cyber assault deterrence.

• SQL Injection: Database attacks using SQL injection are often noted in vulnerability databases.

• Initial deployment failure: Databases may seem to have flawless functionality, but without comprehensive testing, weaknesses might enable intruders to get access. Inadequate security measures, weak passwords, and default security settings might result in sensitive data being available to the public.

• Misconfiguration: Companies often fail to adequately set up their cloud services, leaving them exposed and frequently open to the public.

When Does a Vulnerability Become Exploitable?

A vulnerability is exploitable when there is a clear way to carry out hostile actions. Taking simple security safeguards, such as maintaining up-to-date security patches and monitoring user access limits, prevents vulnerabilities from escalating into more severe security breaches.

A vulnerability is exploitable if it has at least one identifiable attack vector. Attackers aim to target vulnerable systems or network vulnerabilities. You should be more concerned about the possibility of it being exploited.

There are times when a susceptible item is not exploitable. The causes may include:

• Existing security safeguards

• Insufficient public information for attackers to exploit.

• Prior authentication or local system access that the adversary may not have.

Numerous vulnerabilities are avoided from being exploited by the use of solid security procedures. For instance, if S3 security is correctly set, the likelihood of data leakage is reduced. If you do not review your S3 permissions, someone else will. Similarly, you may minimize third-party risk and fourth-party risk using techniques for managing third-party risk and vendor risk.

When Should Known Vulnerabilities Be Disclosed to the Public?

The decision of whether to expose identified vulnerabilities to the public remains difficult. The timing for exposing identified security vulnerabilities might differ amongst researchers, companies, and advocacy groups for cybersecurity. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) offers standards for remediating and disclosing newly found cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Their suggestions differ dependent on characteristics such as whether a vulnerability is severe, whether it is being exploited, and whether there are major and probable dangers. Some factors for a vulnerability to be disclosed are listed below:

• the potential impact on critical infrastructure, national security, or public health and safety

• the vendor's estimate of the time required for customers to obtain, test, and apply the patch

• the vendor's responsiveness and feasibility in developing an update or patch

• whether the vulnerability has been publicly disclosed, i.e. published by a researcher

• the availability of effective mitigations

There are two common ideas about the disclosure timeline of a vulnerability:

• Immediate Full Disclosure: Some cybersecurity experts advocate for quick disclosure, which would include details on how to exploit the vulnerability. Supporters of instant disclosure claim it improves software security, application security, computer security, operating system security, and information security via more rapid patching and secure software.

• Limited to Absence of Disclosure: Others oppose vulnerability disclosure because they worry hackers will exploit the flaw. According to proponents of restricted disclosure, restricting knowledge to a chosen group decreases the possibility of exploitation.

Know that it is increasingly typical for both friendly attackers and cybercriminals to hunt for vulnerabilities and try known exploits on a regular basis.

As part of their entire information risk management and cybersecurity risk assessment process, several businesses establish internal security teams whose responsibility is to test IT security and other organizational security measures.

Best-in-class organizations give bug bounties to encourage those who discover vulnerabilities to disclose them rather than exploit them. Excellent bug bounty programs reduce the likelihood of your firm being a victim of a data breach. The reward amount of a bug bounty program is often proportional to the size of the company, the complexity of exploiting the vulnerability, and the severity of the vulnerability.

What are the Types of Cyber Vulnerabilities?

When evaluating the cybersecurity posture and strategy of an organization, it is essential to recognize that cybersecurity vulnerabilities are within the control of the enterprise, not the cybercriminal. Enterprises proactively address and manage this area of the cybersecurity environment by adopting the required measures and deploying the relevant technologies, processes, and procedures.

In this section, we discuss the most prevalent kinds of cyber vulnerabilities and how companies may mitigate them. The following is a list of the most widespread vulnerabilities found in the realm of cybersecurity.

• Incorrectly interpreting the "Shared Responsibility Model"

• 0-day Vulnerabilities

• Misconfigurations

• Unpatched / Outdated Applications

• Unprotected APIs

• Unauthorized Access

• Weak or Stolen User Credentials

• Missing Data Encryption

These cybersecurity vulnerabilities are explained in more detail below:

• Incorrectly interpreting the "Shared Responsibility Model": Cloud networks conform to the so-called "shared responsibility model." This indicates that a significant portion of the underlying infrastructure is protected by the cloud service provider. However, the business is responsible for the operating system, programs, and data.

  Unfortunately, this might be misconstrued, leading to the false belief that cloud workloads are safeguarded by the cloud service provider. This results in users running unprotected workloads on a public cloud, allowing attackers to target the operating system and apps to get access. According to the Cost of a Data Breach 2022 Report, based on research by the Ponemon Institute, cloud misconfiguration caused 15% of breaches and breaches in a hybrid cloud environment cost an average of USD 3.80 million, compared to USD 4.24 million and USD 5.02 million for breaches in private and public clouds, respectively.

  Organizations that use the cloud or are transitioning to a cloud or hybrid work environment must update their cybersecurity program and tools to secure all risk areas across all environments. In order to offer increased protection against cloud-based vulnerabilities and attacks, traditional security methods must be reinforced in a cloud context.

• 0-day Vulnerabilities: A zero-day vulnerability is a security issue identified by a threat actor but unknown to the company and software vendor. The phrase "zero-day" is used because the software provider was uninformed of the vulnerability in their product and had "zero" days to develop a security patch or update to address the problem; however, the attacker is aware of the vulnerability.

  Zero-day attacks pose a significant threat to businesses because they might be difficult to detect. To successfully identify and neutralize zero-day attacks, a coordinated defense is required, consisting of both preventative technologies and a comprehensive reaction strategy in the case of a strike. By installing a comprehensive endpoint security solution that incorporates technologies such as next-generation antivirus (NGAV), endpoint detection and response (EDR), and threat intelligence, organizations can prepare for these stealthy and harmful incidents.

• Misconfigurations: Configuration errors provide the greatest danger to cloud and app security. Many application security technologies involve manual setup, which may be error-prone and time-consuming to administer and keep up-to-date.

  Misconfigured S3 buckets served as the entry point for many publicly announced breaches in recent years. These faults turn cloud workloads into easy-to-identify targets that can be located with a simple web crawler. The lack of perimeter protection inside the cloud exacerbates the danger posed by misconfigurations. Enterprises must implement security tools and technologies, automate the configuration process, and minimize the risk of human error in the IT environment.

• Unpatched / Outdated Applications: Periodically, software companies issue program updates to either add new features and functionality or repair known cybersecurity flaws. Unpatched or obsolete software is sometimes an easy target for sophisticated hackers. As with system misconfigurations, attackers are on the lookout for such exploitable vulnerabilities.

  Even while software upgrades provide vital security features, it is the organization's obligation to update its network and all endpoints.

  Due to the fact that updates for various software programs are issued daily and IT workers are often overworked, it is simple to get behind on updates and patches or to miss a new release completely. Even the failure to update a single system has catastrophic effects for a business, opening the door to ransomware, malware, and other security risks.

• Unprotected APIs: Application programming interfaces (APIs) offer a digital interface that allows apps or application components to interact via the internet or a private network. Unsecure APIs are a further prevalent security risk.

  APIs are one of the few corporate assets having an IP address that is accessible to the public. If they are not securely and appropriately protected, they might become an easy target for intruders.

  Similar to incorrect settings, protecting APIs is susceptible to human mistakes. IT teams may be ignorant of the specific security risk posed by this asset and depend on regular security procedures, even though they are seldom malevolent. Conducting security awareness training to educate teams on cloud-specific security best practices, such as how to keep secrets, rotate keys, and practice good IT hygiene throughout software development, is crucial in the cloud, just as it is in a conventional setting.

  Organizations should establish and execute a method for prioritizing software updates and patches to solve this problem. The team should automate this task as much as feasible so that systems and endpoints are as safe and up-to-date as possible.

• Unauthorized Access: Frequently, employers provide workers more access and rights than needed to accomplish their job duties. This heightens identity-based vulnerabilities and broadens attackers' access in the case of a data breach.

  To overcome this problem, businesses should use the principle of least privilege (POLP), a computer security concept and practice that grants individuals restricted access permissions based on the job-related activities they must perform. POLP guarantees that only authorized individuals whose identities have been validated have the required rights to conduct tasks inside certain systems, apps, data, and other assets.

  POLP is generally regarded as one of the most successful strategies for enhancing an organization's cybersecurity posture since it enables enterprises to monitor and manage network and data access.

• Weak or Stolen User Credentials: Numerous individuals fail to set strong and unique passwords for each account. Reusing or recycling passwords and user IDs provides fraudsters with an additional possible exploitable vulnerability. According to the Cost of a Data Breach 2022 Report, based on data by the Ponemon Institute, 19% of breaches were caused by stolen or compromised credentials.

  When a threat actor attempts to acquire unauthorized access to sensitive data and systems by deliberately attempting as many combinations of usernames and guessed passwords as possible, they often exploit weak user credentials. If successful, the actor joins the system and impersonates a genuine user; during this time, the adversary moves laterally, installs back doors, collects system expertise for use in future assaults, and, steals data.

  To mitigate this specific cybersecurity issue, firms should establish and implement rules mandating the use of strong, unique passwords and prompting users to change their passwords often. Consider establishing a multifactor authentication (MFA) policy, which requires more than one form of identification to verify the user, such as a password and a fingerprint or a password and a one-time security token.

• Missing Data Encryption: The failure to encrypt or sanitize data while entering it from an end-device user into an IT system might result in the disclosure of sensitive data. If a network's encryption is weak or nonexistent, it is much simpler for malicious actors to intercept communication taking place between computers and gain access to the network. Cyber attackers are able to extract vital information and insert bogus information into a server when the information is either inadequately secured or not encrypted at all. SQL injections, for instance, are cyber attacks that use search bars and other client-side queries to inject malicious code in order to access, retrieve, change, or delete databases and potentially sensitive data. In the absence of preventative measures, fraudsters may be able to steal data or install malicious software via a more generic code injection technique. Web applications may be susceptible to cross-site scripting or Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks if encryption protections are not implemented. This may severely impair the efforts of a business to comply with cybersecurity regulations, which can result in penalties from regulatory agencies.

How to Protect Against Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities?

Some cybersecurity vulnerabilities cannot be avoided; there will always be new zero-day exploits that put enterprises at risk. Nevertheless, with the right mitigation strategies, you make cybersecurity risks acceptable. Vital principles that organizations should follow to protect their assets from cybersecurity vulnerabilities are explained below:

• Vulnerability Management: With the use of patching and vulnerability management software, it is feasible to monitor, manage, and schedule equipment upgrades inside an IT ecosystem and safeguard devices against known attacks. Effective vulnerability patch management ensures updates are implemented at the earliest opportunity, decreasing the amount of time your organization is exposed to known software vulnerabilities.

• Penetration Testing: Frequent vulnerability scans are an essential security technique for identifying common system vulnerabilities and facilitating the fixing of these fundamental problems. Penetration testing is the most effective method for finding vulnerabilities and safeguarding the organization from these flaws. Penetration testing gives a unique, individualized view of the organization's systems and infrastructure and allows the adaptation of procedures, methodologies, and security measures in response to actual intrusions.

• Security Awareness: As a critical component of the full protection of an organization's digital infrastructure, human-related vulnerabilities are eliminated with the help of cybersecurity awareness initiatives and a robust security posture. Businesses must perform frequent training exercises, including phishing testing, pretexting, and other social engineering techniques as necessary. According to the Cost of a Data Breach 2022 Report, by the Ponemon Institute, 16% of data breaches were caused through phishing. There are several training programs available to assist reinforce security awareness principles; if feasible, security awareness training should be contextual and relevant to workers' job tasks. Monitor the success or failure rates of users during testing, as well as "live fire" tests using phishing emails and other techniques. Consider organization-appropriate remedial procedures for users who do not improve.

• Access Control: Employing least privilege security and zero-trust principles ensures that information security is regulated by the need to know and the need to do. This is particularly true when a third party has access to your data, and zero trust network access(ZTNA) applies the same idea to your IT systems by requiring extra authentication, validation, and ongoing verifications. Implemented and maintained user access controls to limit users' access to apps, rights, and data. A secure set up may eliminate superfluous applications and user accounts by default. It verifies that default passwords are updated and that any automated functions that might launch malware quickly (such as AutoRun for media drives) are disabled. The majority of firms benefit from having tight password management. This includes longer passwords, more complicated passwords, more frequent password changes, or a mix of the aforementioned concepts. In reality, lengthier passwords that are not often changed are more secure than shorter ones that are. Password authentication prevents users from selecting weak passwords. Users should be compelled to utilize multifactor authentication (MFA) when gaining access to sensitive data or websites, frequently with the assistance of multifactor authentication solutions.

• Backup: The majority of businesses need a multifaceted backup and recovery plan. This should include snapshots and replication of data center storage, database storage, tape or disk backups, and end-user storage (often cloud-based). Consider enterprise-level technologies that provide detailed backup and recovery reporting and analytics.

• Network Segmentation: Organizations should concentrate on carefully regulating network access across systems inside subnets and developing improved detection and alerting mechanisms for lateral movement between systems that should not be interacting. They should concentrate on weird DNS lookups, system-to-system communication with no obvious purpose, and strange network traffic patterns. Proxy servers, firewalls, and microsegmentation technologies may aid in the creation of more restricted traffic and system communication regulations.

• Endpoint Security: More enterprises must invest in endpoint detection and response(EDR) systems that combine next-generation antivirus, behavioral analysis, and response capabilities. These technologies enable a more thorough examination of harmful activity as well as more adaptable alternatives for prevention and detection. Consider an update if you're still using conventional antivirus technologies that lack behavioral inspection, more precise forensic information and compromise indications, and real-time response capabilities.

• Monitoring: It is essential to have visibility into your ecosystem and the occurrence of abnormal activity. Not all hackers make requests. Instead, they investigate your systems and increase the likelihood of harm to maximize the return on their efforts. A Security Operation Center (SOC) platform enable your IT staff to prioritize the most critical events and evaluate compromise signs. Neither is it appropriate to invest money on security systems that operate in silos where critical signals might be ignored during an assault nor on technology that your business is not prepared to utilize successfully.