Following the colonial pipeline attack last month which cause long queues at petrol stations across the eastern US and the recent attack on the meat company JBS, which costs the company $11m ransom, Center Point look at the impacts that cyber attacks can have on the operation of companies and the ways you can stay protected from potential attacks.
What is a Cyber Attack?
A cyber attack is an aggressive use of technological force to gain unauthorized access to a particular computer or network. They do this with an intent to steal important data, gain control of the system and/or use the system as a source for other attacks.
There are different ways cyber criminals carry out cyber attacks on a computer. This include phishing, Spamming, malware, ransomware, Denial of Service (DoS) among many others.
Is it Preventable?
The big bold answer to this question YES!!! Cyber Attacks are preventable. Checkpoint data suggests that 99percent of companies are not effectively protected and reported that the key to cyber defense is an end-to-end cyber security architecture that is multilayered and spans all networks, endpoint and mobile devices, and cloud.
How to Stay Protected from Cyber Attacks
Sensitize your employees on current cyber attack trends and security measures against them
In the cyber security world, ignorance is not an excuse. Social engineering is one of the ways cyber criminals get access to your network and the target is always the employees. Hence, they should be trained on how to detect fraudulent emails tricking them to reveal their corporate details including passwords and other cyber security measures.
Employees need to
- Verify legitimacy of links before clicking them
- Verify email sources before sending sensitive information
- Beware of putting personal information online
Update your software and computers regularly to stay updated with the latest security updates and features
It is important to regularly update enterprise software and computers to avoid leaving loopholes for hackers to exploit. Also, failure to do so can give hackers privilege to attack the network and cause serious damage depending on the level of exploitation. I this case, preventive maintenance will not be possible anymore and can have serious impact on the financial and technical functionality of the company or organization
Endpoint Protection
Endpoint is a technical term used to describe the devices that we use. This include laptops, desktops, mobile phones, etc. Endpoint protection on the other hand refers to the technology(ies) installed on the endpoint that attempt to protect them from threats and the adversaries that we face. This include things like antivirus, application whitelisting, intrusion prevention, disk encryption, etc. Furthermore, endpoint protection ensures that security travels with devices as they move from one place to another.
Use of Firewall
A firewall is a network security device which monitors traffic inflow to and outflow from the network and allows and/or blocks packets based on a set of rules. It creates a barrier between the organization network and the internet. Hence, is used as part of a perimeter security mechanism.
Operating System and Application Hardening
Hardening in cyber security means to take something from a particular state to a more secured and hardened state by reducing the attack surface and vulnerabilities. It can be an operating system or an application. Hardening process commonly include removing unnecessary software and services from an operating system, changing, removing or disabling default passwords, enabling security software and configurations, patching the kernel, etc.
Data Backup
Data backup ensures that lost data are recovered in the event of a cyber attack so as to avoid serious downtime and financial losses
Use Strong Passwords
Always avoid using simple passwords like your date of birth, generic texts, etc. These passwords are easy to guess. Using a combination of character sets, numbers and letters is a good security practice. In addition, it is a good practice to change passwords regularly.
Application and Execution Control
Application and execution control tends to prevent the execution of malicious codes on business owned computers. We achieve this by restricting the employees access to run certain applications and installations. This is useful in preventing malware and other malicious codes from running on the system.
Conclusion: How to stay safe amidst current Cyber Attack trends
Latest reports reveals how costly cyber attack can be to an enterprise. However, knowing where to start from can be difficult and challenging especially in today’s pool of overwhelming resources. Furthermore, you need a security solution that your business needs for a hitch free operation. Our security personnel at Center Point are always available to provide you with a standard cyber security assessment and help you get on the right track towards a secure operation environment. Contact us Now.