What Are Real Time Threats?

Our customer records. Our vital information. Even our financial transactions.

All of it is stored online today. But just like locking the drawer at a cash register to prevent the threat of other people getting their hands on it, we need to lock down our sensitive information and records so that hackers can’t access it.

When we talk about a threat, we’re talking about a potential danger that exists online – a danger that could damage files on your system, or possibly even the system or network itself. Within the “threat” category, there are several different types, but one of the most significant is a “real time threat”.

How do real time threats impact your business?

Real time threats move very quickly – and once they are unleashed, the damage is often instant. This is why real time threat monitoring is so important.

If there is a significant delay between the threat being unleashed and the detection of that threat, then the damage could be extensive.

There are several sub-categories of real time threats:

• Viruses: Much like a respiratory virus working its way through a population, a system virus replicates itself repeatedly, spreading rapidly throughout a system and potentially spreading to other systems as well. New viruses are released every single day, so staying on top of this threat is huge for your system’s health.
  

• Worms: Worms can also replicate themselves quickly just like viruses. Worms are also very focused on spreading to other networked devices. Often, they take charge of the email of the infected user, which means anyone who deals with sensitive information would need to be very cautious of worms.
• Scareware: Close in relation to “ransomware”, scareware will dupe the victim into believing that their system is infected with a virus, and then leads the user to a fake antivirus software purchase page. The goal here is to get the victim to part with their money.
• Keyloggers: The danger behind keyloggers is their real time monitoring of a user’s actions. A keylogger hides silently in the background while the user goes about their day, and it records every keystroke. With a keylogger, hackers can record passwords and financial information with ease, leading to massive theft of both money and identity.
• Rootkits: One of the most stubborn real time threats, a rootkit often deploys the virus or worm into the system, and then attaches itself into the system to make it appear as though the malware is a necessary piece of the system for operation. It is incredibly difficult to remove a rootkit once it is deployed successfully.

Dealing with any of these real time threats can be frustrating and time-consuming, especially if you don’t know what you are doing. An automatic scanner such as Sectigo Web can protect and remediate against these kinds of threats.

With regularly scheduled maintenance and scanning using the latest threat definitions and information, Sectigo Web can ensure that your site is protected from online security threats in real time. It is a safeguard to keep your site from falling victim to aggressive hackers.