What is Your Biggest Network Security Hole?

When it comes to your business network's health, IT security is always a hot topic. This TechRepublic article makes a great point about the significant financial impact of a network security breach:

Small businesses underestimate financial damage of cyberattacks - 

Companies, organizations and government agencies need to take cyber security seriously and implement effective solutions. If you watch a lot of movies you may imagine this means some sort of military grade device that will keep a super smart hacker from using a double top secret, black market app to crack your firewall and get into your network to wreak havoc… 

The truth is it’s a lot less glorious than that. Here are the main ways hackers get in: 

Your Server or Firewall Really Does Have a Security Hole 

Periodically your servers and firewalls need to be updated because a security hole was discovered. Through ongoing proactive maintenance, usually these holes are patched long before hackers find them. 

For companies and organizations that are not regularly updating their servers and firewalls, here’s the kicker: When a security hole is found and a patch issued, that information becomes public and hackers learn about it. They then know exactly how to exploit these holes and start searching for unpatched devices. 

If you have a good IT department or MSP partner like M-QUAL they ensure your devices are always quickly patched in order to avoid this issue.

Someone Has a Weak Password 

This used to be a bigger problem but can still be an issue today.  Your company should implement at a minimum two-factor authentication (2FA) for any remote access to the network or email. 

Phishing - Possibly the Biggest Security Hole… 

Phishing attacks are the way Riviera Beach Florida, Baltimore Maryland and a host of other high-profile hacks occurred.

If you aren’t familiar with phishing, it is the practice of sending a fake email that looks like it is coming from the IRS or a fax service or similar “reputable” source with an attachment or link that when opened installs malicious software.

  

Employees who are not familiar with the tactics used for phishing are therefore the biggest liability to a company or organization and can wind up costing literally hundreds of thousands of dollars.

On that note, making sure everyone is informed and up to date regarding the latest hacking methods is extremely crucial to maintaining your business health.