How to Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft?

The way we interact with corporate networks has changed forever, making traditional security measures focused on protecting the perimeter no longer sufficient. Every day, more people choose to work remotely or hybrid, causing dependence on cloud technology to grow, and most organizations have to defend a disproportionate attack surface in terms of locations, accounts and devices.

Proofpoint defines both the current threat landscape and the style of defence needed to protect against them as “people-centric.” Now, in fact, the identity is being used by cybercriminals to increase their profits by following a pattern or attack chain.

Identity theft is a growing threat in today’s digital context. Data from Proofpoint’s State of the Phish 2023 report shows that, of organizations that suffered phishing attempts in 2022, 90% experienced at least one successful attack, of which more than 40% resulted in credential theft or account compromise, where employees accidentally exposed their credentials, giving criminals access to sensitive data and their business accounts.

Today, it is very easy for an attacker to turn a compromised identity into a ransomware incident or data access across an entire company. And the longer it goes undetected, the more devastating the consequences can be. So, how can organizations combat the growing problem of identity theft?

According to Proofpoint, the first step is to stop the initial attack. Preventing attackers from entering an organization through phishing, social engineering, spoofing, business email compromise (BEC), and ransomware. 

Robust email security and cybersecurity awareness among the entire workforce are the keys to stopping most of these attacks. Lateral movement must also be stopped: if an attacker manages to enter, he can search for identities that allow him to escalate in privileges, which turns an initially small problem into something much bigger.

To break the chain, the use of  Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR) solutions is also essential, which emerge as controls capable of neutralizing attacks before they fully materialize in devastating incidents such as ransomware or data theft. 

By actively monitoring and analyzing identity-related activities, ITDR solutions provide the proactive defence measures necessary to thwart threats in their early stages, Proofpoint indicates. Thus, organizations will be able to effectively mitigate the risk of security breaches, safeguarding critical data and preserving operational continuity.