Guide

Stay a step ahead of cybersecurity threats

Organizations across industries face a growing array of threats from cybercriminals intent on stealing sensitive data, extorting money and disrupting people’s lives. At the same time, networks have grown in size and complexity. That leaves IT leaders protecting a larger attack surface from increasingly sophisticated threats that can have devastating consequences.

The average cost of a data breach reached $4.44 million in 2025.¹ The long-term impacts can be even larger. Personally identifiable information (PII) is stolen or compromised in more than half of breaches, exposing businesses to regulatory risk and reputational damage that can take years to overcome.²

Two-thirds of technology leaders say cybersecurity is one of their highest priorities.³ But putting that intention into action can be a challenge. Protecting networks from today’s threats requires specific, up-to-date technical expertise that many organizations lack. In one study, only 14% of executives said they are confident their organization has the cybersecurity talent needed today.⁴

IT teams need to implement protective measures across more environments. As of 2025, 30% of breaches involved data distributed across multiple environments, such as public clouds, private clouds and on-premises.⁵ The expanding number of Internet of Things (IoT) endpoints also makes cybersecurity more complex. IoT devices are an attractive target for malware, which uses them to execute distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. AI poses another challenge, including new applications for IT teams to secure and expanding databases for attackers to target. All of this is happening as many organizations struggle to modernize their IT infrastructure overall, with seven in 10 reporting that their network assets are mostly aging or obsolete.⁶

49% of organizations plan on investing in security post breach.⁷

Tracking evolving threats

It’s critical for IT and business leaders to understand the biggest threats their networks face. These include:

Social engineering

This technique is used by cybercriminals to exploit human psychology and trick people into revealing confidential information or performing actions that compromise security. Phishing is one common method, with attackers often impersonating legitimate entities to steal sensitive data or plant malware through malicious files or downloads.

20% of organizations say they have suffered a breach due to security incidents involving shadow AI.⁸

AI-powered cyberthreats

These emerging methods leverage AI to create more convincing and automated attacks, making them harder to detect and potentially more effective. One example includes using AI to develop deepfakes, which are realistic fake videos, audio or images employed to trick individuals into granting access to systems or data. AI can also help generate highly personalized phishing emails, power chatbot phishing efforts and attack AI systems by corrupting training data or finding vulnerabilities in the models. On average, 16% of data breaches involve attackers using AI, most often for AI-generated phishing (37%) and deepfake impersonation attacks (35%).⁹

Ransomware and other malware

Malware is broadly defined as any malicious software designed to harm or exploit computer systems. Ransomware is a type of malware attackers use to restrict access to a computer system or files and then demand payment for their release. Downloaders are another common malware type, distributed through malicious or compromised websites, typically via fake software updates. New malware variations appear each year, underscoring the need for organizations to remain up to date and vigilant.

DDoS attacks

These brute-force attacks are throwing more traffic at networks than ever before, combining volumetric, session-exhaustion and application-layer attack vectors. In session-exhaustion attacks, the firewall is essentially turned inside out, becoming a tool for attackers instead of a network defense. Application-layer attacks target the code that runs the website or application. The average cost of an application-layer DDoS attack is $6,130 per minute.¹⁰

Data breaches

The unauthorized access, disclosure or loss of sensitive, confidential or protected information continues to be a risk faced by organizations large and small. The theft can involve PII, such as Social Security numbers, bank account details and health record information, as well as corporate data like customer records and financial information. In some cases, attackers prefer to corrupt rather than steal from databases: deleting tables, changing records or erasing entire databases.

The most common passwords in 2025:¹¹

123456

123456789

qwerty

password

How cyberattacks can be prevented

Breaking down the details of cybercrimes helps paint a clear picture of the evolving threat. Read these hypothetical examples and see how organizations could have better protected themselves from an attack.

Hotel guest records stolen via phishing

Type of breach: A remote-access trojan and a tool that sniffs out usernames and password combinations in system memory — often downloaded from a phishing email — were used to steal guest records from a guest reservation database. This attack went undetected for four years.

What was lost: Hundreds of millions of guest records were breached. Many included highly sensitive information, including credit card and passport numbers, mailing addresses, birth dates and reservation information. In addition to losing revenue, the company incurred tens of millions of dollars in expenses to address the data breach.

What might have mitigated or thwarted the attack: The use of anti-malware protection and a next-generation firewall may have prevented the attack. Encrypted data, both in transit and at rest, would have rendered all emails and other records unreadable. Use of multi-factor authentication (MFA), updated software and expert training for employees about current phishing methods could have deterred the attackers’ efforts.

Ransomware attack strikes health system

Type of breach: A ransomware attack shut down the computer network of a health system with 17 hospitals for two days.

What was lost: The health system paid an undisclosed amount in ransom to stop the attack, which forced hospitals to reschedule non-emergency surgeries and left providers with no access to electronic health records.

What might have mitigated or thwarted the attack: The use of antivirus software and a next-generation firewall, as well as content scanning and filtering to detect threats in advance, could have prevented the intrusion. MFA and segmented security zones within the network could have hindered bad actors from moving laterally if they gained access to one device, while endpoint security solutions could have helped protect individual devices connected to the network.

DDoS attacks shut down 50 school districts

Type of attack: A volumetric DDoS attack impacted dozens of school districts at the same time.

What was lost: The technology services center for 50 school districts was shut down nine times during a six-month period by DDoS attacks. Students and teachers lost access to educational materials, officials had to devote significant resources to addressing the attacks and roughly 25,000 students were unable to take the state English assessment tests.

What might have mitigated or thwarted the attack: DDoS protection services could have blocked the offending IP address and prevented secondary attacks. Machine learning and AI might have identified anomalies in traffic flows, triggering targeted IP address cleansing. With the address blocked, clean traffic would be allowed to pass, which would have enabled sites and applications to continue operations. In addition, access to a cloud-based portal may have provided the real-time traffic visibility, insights, analytics and in-depth reporting needed to help avert the attack or limit its impact.

AI helps attackers steal corporate data

Type of attack: A phishing attack targeting corporate executives — often called spear phishing — used an AI-generated video of a high-ranking IT leader to convince an executive vice president to provide credentials to a sensitive file-sharing account.

What was lost: A foreign government used this access to steal trade secrets and intellectual property worth millions of dollars, damaging the company’s stock price and its competitive position in international markets.

What might have mitigated or thwarted the attack: Up-to-date employee training on phishing threats could have helped the executive identify the request as suspicious, even when it came from a realistic video call. Solutions for MFA and a zero-trust network access framework would have prevented access to the sensitive information even if an attacker acquired an executive’s login credentials.

Finding the right protection

Continuously keeping ahead of cybersecurity threats to your network requires comprehensive and coordinated coverage. A unified security approach integrated with your internet and network connectivity can help you eliminate vulnerabilities and expedite issue resolution. The approach should include firewalls, unified threat management (UTM) and DDoS protection. The support of a network services provider is also vital, including for cloud-based security services such as secure web gateways, cloud access security brokers, identity management and zero trust network access.

Top reasons companies seek to partner with a managed services provider:¹²

54% have increasing concerns about cybersecurity risks.

50% need more expertise than they possess internally.

47% require help managing a hybrid or remote workforce.

When it’s time to evaluate a provider and its services, ask the following questions to help you find the best protection possible:

How can you protect us from malware, phishing and other common cyberattacks?
How do you identify and mitigate network threats? Can you scan our network for attacks and drain suspicious traffic?
What protection do you provide against volumetric DDoS attacks?
Do you have a means for enabling us to continue to work productively on unaffected parts of the network after a DDoS attack?
Do you provide UTM? What protection does that provide?
Can your firewall protect traffic across our various sites?
Is a next-generation firewall part of what you offer? What does it provide?
Do you have an integrated solution that includes firewall, UTM and internet service to simplify protection?
Does your solution provide complete visibility across network components to make potential vulnerabilities easier to identify?
Can you help implement a zero-trust network architecture with MFA, access management and cloud security for staff working on-site and remotely?
How are you prepared to support our organization as our network needs change and cyberthreats evolve?
How can you help offload day-to-day administration work from our IT team during and after implementation?
What types of teams and experts will we have access to for support? Are they available 24/7?
How will you ensure all of our WiFi sites are protected?

Comprehensive coverage and support

Widespread, coordinated network protection can keep you one step ahead of evolving network threats. You can balance the needs for complexity in coverage and simplicity in operation by choosing managed security services. With the right partner, you’re supported from design through implementation and provided with ongoing support. See how Spectrum Business® is uniquely qualified to protect your network.

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