Data Exfiltration

A common data exfiltration definition is the theft or unauthorized removal or movement of any data from a device. Data exfiltration typically involves a cyber criminal stealing data from personal or corporate devices, such as computers and mobile phones, through various cyberattack methods.

Another data exfiltration meaning is data exportation and extrusion, data leakage, or data theft, which can pose serious problems for organizations. Failing to control information security can lead to data loss that could cause reputational and financial damage to an organization.

Data exfiltration occurs in two ways, through outsider attacks and via insider threats. Both are major risks, and organizations must ensure their data is protected by detecting and preventing data exfiltration at all times.

An attack from outside the organization occurs when an individual infiltrates a network to steal corporate data and potentially user credentials. This typically is a result of a cyber criminal injecting malware onto a device, such as a computer or smartphone, that is connected to a corporate network. 

Some strands of malware are designed to spread across an organization’s network and infiltrate other devices, searching for sensitive corporate data in an attempt to exfiltrate information. Other types of malware will lay dormant on a network to avoid detection by organizations’ security systems until data is exfiltrated subversively or information is gradually collected over a period of time.

Attacks can result from malicious insiders stealing their own organization’s data and sending documents to their personal email address or cloud storage services, potentially to sell to cyber criminals. They can also be caused by careless employee behavior that sees corporate data fall into the hands of bad actors.

Depending on the type of attack method used, detecting data exfiltration can be a difficult task. Cyberattacks using techniques that are more difficult to detect can be mistaken for regular network traffic. This means they can lurk in networks unnoticed for months and even years, while the data exfiltration will often only be discovered when the damage has been caused to the organization.

To detect the presence of bad actors, organizations must look into tools that discover malicious or unusual traffic automatically and in real time. 

One tool that offers this capability is an intrusion detection system (IDS), which monitors a network and searches for known threats and suspicious or malicious traffic. When it detects a possible threat, the IDS sends an alert to the organization’s IT and security teams. IDS applications can be either software, which runs on hardware or network security solutions, or cloud-based, which protects data and resources in cloud environments.

These tools work by searching for known attack signatures and detecting anomalies that deviate from regular network activity. They then issue an alert or report of the anomaly so that system administrators and security teams can examine them at the application and protocol layer.

Once risks have been detected, organizations can analyze the risk using tools like static malware analysis and dynamic malware analysis. These enable organizations to understand the threat and the potential impact it could have on devices and networks.

In addition to detecting standalone threats, organizations can also build out the entire sequences of an event as it happened, including mapping them to a known kill chain or attack framework. They can then create a custom detection system that meets their unique risk profile without the need for threat hunters and expensive data scientists.

Aside from detecting potential risks and protecting data, systems, and users from security attacks without impacting performance and user productivity, organizations should be able to prevent data exfiltration. This has become increasingly difficult given the mobile and remote working trends of the modern workforce. 

Organizations therefore must prevent sensitive data from being transmitted to unidentified servers in locations with high levels of cyberattacks. They should also prevent the unauthorized transmission of data to third-party servers, which are increasingly becoming the source of modern cyberattacks.

Preventing data exfiltration is possible with security solutions that ensure data loss and leakage prevention. For example, firewalls can block unauthorized access to resources and systems storing sensitive information. On the other hand, a security information and event management system (SIEM) can secure data in motion, in use, and at rest, secure endpoints, and identify suspicious data transfers.

Next-generation firewalls (NGFWs) enable organizations to protect their networks from internal and external cyber threats. They maintain features like IP mapping, IPsec and secure sockets layer (SSL) virtual private network (VPN) support, and network monitoring. NGFWs also enable deeper traffic inspection that allows organizations to identify and block attacks and malware across their entire attack surface. NGFWs automatically update to prevent data exfiltration from new and advanced attacks and protect networks from emerging threats. 

Preventing data from being exfiltrated is reliant on deploying a security solution that includes features such as: 

1. Blocking unauthorized communication channels: Some strands of malware use external communication channels to exfiltrate data. Organizations therefore must block any unauthorized communication channels, such as direct and potentially compromised applications.
2. Credential theft and phishing prevention: The prevalence of phishing attacks means companies must be able to prevent users from entering their login credentials into spoofed websites. Prevention tools can also block keystroke logging, which enables an attacker to monitor and log a user’s keyboard activity.
3. Maintaining user experience: Preventing data exfiltration must not negatively impact user activity. Therefore, organizations should use tools that can detect legitimate application and communication activity, even on new applications.
4. User education: Educating users on the risks and threats they face is also important in detecting data exfiltration. Organizations need to ensure that employees understand the telltale signs of a cyberattack, not open malicious attachments, and not click on links included in emails.

Antivirus and anti-malware solutions do not provide enough cover to prevent data exfiltration. Antivirus solutions only remove known threats or malware, rather than prevent an attacker from infiltrating the organization’s network. In addition to an antivirus or anti-malware solution, organizations need to deploy solutions that prevent all devices connected to the network from exfiltrating data.