Emerging threats to business security

Traditionally business would consider threats the actions of other people like a robbery but now more than ever, businesses need to be concerned about the security of their networks. The number,variety and strength of the threats to business computers and network security have dramatically increased and businesses need to be prepared against all types of malware attacks.

Malware is one of the biggest threats to business computer users on the Internet today. It can hijack your browser, redirect your search attempts, serve up nasty pop-up ads, track what web sites you visit, and generally screw things up. Malware programs are usually poorly-programmed and can cause your computer to become unbearably slow and unstable in addition to all the other havoc they wreak. Many of them will reinstall themselves even after you think you have removed them, or hide themselves deep within Windows, making them very difficult to clean. There are different varieties of malware including spyware, trojan horses,etc. Below is a list of potential other threats and types of attacks to businesses:

Spyware remains a growing concern for businesses. In light of recently introduced data protection theft and loss will remain high for the foreseeable future.

Phishing (both web- and e-mail-based) is probably the worst current threat and will continue to remain so during the next year. It is also one of the most dangerous because it causes direct losses to victims (stolen bank accounts usually get "cleaned out" within hours or days).

A computer worm is a self-replicating program that ‘survives’ on its own (does not rely on attachment).

A spoofing attack is a situation in which one person or program successfully masquerades as another by falsifying data and thereby gaining an illegitimate advantage

Denial-of Service attacks exploit known vulnerability in specific apps, OS, protocols, or services and deny authorised users access to information or computers, e.g. web sites

In the Man-in-the-middle attack the attacker (M) makes the 2 parties (A and B) believe that they are talking directly to each other and relays (injects) messages between them.


Security providers are normally focused on protecting computer applications. With computer literacy increasing dramatically and the line between private and business use of computers and networks blurring. Businesses need to keep a close eye on their employee’s activities on their company networks and ensure that their network security is not at stake as today's biggest and most prominent emerging threats which are targeted at the emerging online lifestyle. For businesses, firewalls remain a mainstay of network security when dealing with automated threats such as worms or botnets, when coupled with strong antivirus protection both at server and client levels.