Digital Invisibility

In the digital era, online exposure isn’t just a technical detail. It’s a real vulnerability. Every publicly accessible service, every unprotected credential, every carelessly shared link can become an open door for attackers.

And here’s the reality: you don’t need to be a big company to be targeted. Cybercriminals aren’t after you personally, they’re after whatever you leave exposed.

The Rise of Automated Scanning

Most attacks today aren’t launched by someone manually picking their victim. Instead, automated bots sweep across the internet 24/7, looking for weaknesses: misconfigured services, exposed credentials, or outdated systems. Their logic is simple: scan, find, exploit.

A real-world example:
Not long ago, a mid-sized industrial firm was hit with ransomware after its VPN portal—left exposed online without any restrictions—was flagged by a bot. With no IP filtering and no multi-factor authentication (MFA) in place, attackers slipped in and deployed ransomware. That company wasn’t singled out. It was simply… visible.

→ Full case study available on PwC DarkLab’s blog

The Dangerous Myth: “We’re Too Small to Be a Target”

A lot of organizations still believe they’re safe because they’re small, niche, or not “strategic” enough. That’s an outdated view.

Automated scanning doesn’t care about your size or reputation. If your systems are visible and poorly protected, they’ll be flagged—and sooner or later, exploited.

Invisibility = Resilience

When it comes to cybersecurity, one of the most effective strategies is also the simplest: don’t appear.

The less visible your systems are, the harder it is for attackers to find a way in. That doesn’t mean shutting everything down, it means making sure that only legitimate users can see or access what they need, while keeping everything else hidden.

This approach relies on:

• Segmentation of sensitive services
• Strict controls on remote access
• Strong authentication policies
• Building a culture of digital discretion

Practical Best Practices:

• Avoid exposing internal tools or portals directly to the internet
• Lock down remote access (VPN, remote maintenance, RDP, etc.)
• Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) everywhere
• Train staff to think twice before sharing internal details (LinkedIn, forums, shared docs, etc.)
• Continuously monitor your attack surface, if something’s visible without reason, protect or hide it

Quick Self-Check: Is Your Company Too Visible?

Here are some warning signs worth investigating:

• VPN or RDP exposed without filtering or MFA
• Business applications directly accessible online
• Internal documents or links shared publicly
• Employees openly discussing clients or internal tools on LinkedIn
• Lack of visibility into what’s exposed from outside

Bottom Line

The internet is an observation zone.

What’s visible can be exploited.
What’s invisible is far safer.

So the question is: what if your organization could become practically invisible to attackers?