What’s Tailgating in Cybersecurity?

Tailgating. It’s an American football tradition almost as old as the sport itself – rife with fans, fun, and food. Within the IT world, nonetheless, the term tailgating takes on a more nefarious context. 

So what’s tailgating in cybersecurity? To members of the digital realm, tailgating is an attack method hackers use to realize access to sensitive, password-protected data and data. They do that by closely following a licensed person into the system.

Organizations polled in a recent survey say social engineering attacks like tailgating were one of the common cybersecurity issues – answerable for 75% of their cybersecurity threats. Consequently, IT managers and system admins need to concentrate on tailgating – what it’s, why it’s so dangerous, and what they’ll do to stop it.

Nonetheless, education precedes awareness. That’s why Liquid Web is here to offer the whole rundown of tailgating in cybersecurity. Every thing it’s essential to know might be covered in this text, so bookmark it as your go-to resource to raised protect yourself and your clients.

Tailgating is a hacking method where digital threat actors (or other unauthorized users) “ride the coattails” of a licensed user to realize access to essential system data. 

Once hackers infiltrate a system through tailgating, they may extract sensitive data. Typically, the info they’re pilfering at this stage isn’t the top goal. Launching a tailgating attack is just step one, and this data might be used to determine a more significant, intricate attack. That is crucial, as stopping tailgating will prevent more dangerous attacks like ransomware.

Tailgating is something known as piggybacking. While the terms are used interchangeably by the cybersecurity community at large, they aren’t the identical.

Each attacks seek advice from an unauthorized user following a licensed user, but piggybacking typically refers back to the attack used to realize access to a physical location. Tailgating’s definition in cybersecurity refers back to the attack used to access sensitive data inside a company’s digital infrastructure.

Tailgating’s meaning in cybersecurity inherently implies that it relies on other users inside a company’s system. Sometimes the user is unaware of the unauthorized user following them into the system. Other times – in additional malicious cases – they’re aware of the breach beforehand.

You could wonder why someone would let an unauthorized user into the system. Like most social engineering attacks, tailgating affects the human nature of a company’s employees and end users. For instance, a hacker may send a phishing email that manipulates someone into acting. 

Using digital tools, digital threat actors can track authorized users as they enter their login ID and password. Once that user hits Enter or clicks Login, the hacker enters the system together with them. Consequently, they now have access to the identical level of confidential and proprietary data as the top user.

A hacker following a licensed user into the system will be very dangerous, depending on the user’s access and permissions. While a breach is rarely thing, it will possibly be particularly damaging to enterprise cybersecurity if a hacker were to tailgate an upper-level manager or C-level executive into the system.

These organization members have access to the corporate’s digital infrastructure’s most sensitive data and areas. Consequently, a hacker reaching those corners of the network could drastically impact the business, its employees, and its customers.

Below are a number of examples of what tailgating in cybersecurity is used for:

• Gain access to secure, sensitive data.
• Exploit end users for financial gain.
• Leverage the info gained from tailgating for a bigger, more sophisticated attack.
• Competitors performing corporate espionage.
• Disgruntled employees wanting to sabotage the business.

The perpetrator of a tailgating attack might be almost anyone. Vandals, disgruntled employees, thieves, hackers, and more could all be attempting to access your organization’s most secure sectors and data stores.

Criminals who gain physical access to a facility through tailgating could also be after unsupervised equipment corresponding to laptops, hard drives, and more. Once inside, they could even try and install malicious software like spyware in server rooms to present themselves access to the network once they leave.

Digital tailgating works in much the identical way. Once inside an internal network, hackers virtually have free reign of all of the sensitive files and data throughout the system. The magnitude and sort of damage they’ll inflict at this point are almost limitless.

Now that you just understand what tailgating is in cybersecurity, the subsequent step is prevention. Organizations have to deal with access controls to their facilities to stop physical tailgating.

A number of ways they’ll do which are:

• Implement stringent policies for worker ID cards.
• Use biometric scans for high-sensitivity areas.
• Leverage security tools that require employees to validate their identity.
• Install cameras in critical areas.

In terms of stopping digital tailgating, business owners have to rely heavily on education. You possibly can have essentially the most robust veil of cybersecurity protection available, but in case your team clicks the fallacious link, opens the fallacious email, or downloads the fallacious file, none of that may matter.

Managers and IT system admins should take the time to present detailed cybersecurity lessons to all employees on what to search for to stop social engineering attacks. Show team members the right way to spot red flags for suspicious email, link, or file activity, and ensure your internal IT team receives adequate training on the right response to cyberattacks.

Though tailgating might sound innocuous, within the cybersecurity world, it will possibly have profound implications. Hackers can use tailgating to access sensitive data, which may then be used to wreak havoc on an organization or individual. Thankfully, there are methods to stop tailgating attacks from happening. By being aware of the risks of tailgating and taking measures to stop it, you may help keep yourself, your data, and your organization protected from harm.

Liquid Web is here to assist protect you and your team from the ever-present threat of tailgating. If you happen to’re unsure where to begin, contact certainly one of the Most Helpful Humans in Hosting® today.