Network security has grown more complicated as network perimeters have expanded to include mobile devices and work-from-home devices. Cloud computing and mobile technologies have made access to email and data anywhere and anytime a reality, which has been a boon to worker productivity and company efficiency. As a result, companies need to shift thinking of their network from the equipment in your server room to the broad network of devices used by your employees both in the office and remotely.
Unlike your annual flu shot, which helps to protect your body from potentially harmful viruses, the IT “maladies” of today and tomorrow require more than just yearly inoculation. Here are a few of the “bugs” you need to be concerned about along with the key treatment options you should deploy for your business.
With end users working across a range of devices, in-house or remote, network security solutions have become more complex and challenging. At the same time, cybercrime is on the rise. Viruses, worms and Trojans still are used to gain access or cause damage to company networks. However, cybercriminals have added even more sophisticated tools to their “bag of bad tricks,” such as ransomware that encrypts your data, device, and network, removing all of your access until you pay a ransom.
Spoofing represents a newer category of cyberattacks. Hackers purchase a website domain similar to the domain of the company they’ve targeted. They may substitute an English-language character with a character from another language or a number that looks similar. The fake site looks real enough for a user to log in.
CEO spoofing, in particular, is increasingly common. This is what looks to be an email sent from a CEO or other executive that spurs an employee to unintentionally act in a way that places financial or other key data at risk.
Hackers also have shifted their focus, targeting more small businesses. The shift has resulted in a 424% increase in new breaches from 2017 according to 4iQ in its 2019 Identify Breach Report.
Training should be at the top of your network protection list. While a firewall can mitigate many risks, only training can prevent an employee from clicking on a bad link or opening an email attachment from an unknown source. With just one bad click, a virus infecting one machine can replicate and transfer itself to all the connected devices on the network, resulting in a data breach, data loss, crashes, email hijacks and more. That’s why you need a formal IT security plan that includes employee security awareness and training sessions.
Monitoring and testing your network against threats should become a routine component of network protection. To avoid system compromise, potential data loss, ransomware and other threats, external scans of all network resources should be conducted annually, if not quarterly or semi-annually, to identify vulnerabilities. Network security scans can check for potential points of exploitation in systems used remotely. Companies can secure an IT services provider such as Silverado to monitor their network as much as 24/7 if necessary.
With cybersecurity threats evolving, it’s difficult for companies to keep on top of all their network defenses. If your current IT resource personnel are raising the alarm about network vulnerabilities to some of the latest threats, Silverado can provide network protection consulting as well as network monitoring, testing and rapid-response troubleshooting.
Call Silverado at (520) 903-1580 or contact us online and let us help you make sure your network is immune from threats.