As soon as we have a connection to the Internet, we increase our risks of vulnerability. There was a time when passwords were enough to counter multiple attacks but today, this is no longer the case. An organization, a company, must secure its data by strengthening its computer system. This is what we call cybersecurity. But what is cybersecurity and why is it important to secure its information system as much as possible ? Ethic IT break it down into simple steps.
Generally speaking, cybersecurity is simply a process that allows you to protect your sensitive data, your network or your computer system within your organization. It is based on 4 objectives :
- Data confidentiality,
- The authenticity of the actors having access to the information system,
- Integrity, in order to know the accuracy of the data,
- Availability, in order to have access to the information system at any time.
Thus, cybersecurity is facing what is called cyberattack. It is proven in a study by Forbes Technology Council, that every 40 seconds, a company is victim of a cyber-attack. But what are the risks and stakes?
Cyber-attacks are most often the result of a desire to harm, destroy or put a structure in difficulty. Often with a competitive aim, companies are attacked and see all their information compromised.
There are several forms of cyberattack that are also related to cybercrime :
- The computer virus attack : The virus gives hackers access to your entire information system with the very specific goal of destroying all your data.
- Ransomware : This software, commonly known as CryptoLocker, CryptoDefense or CryptoWall, is a type of malware that restricts or even prevents users from using their computers completely. The new type of ransomware Crypto Ransomware forces users to pay a certain amount to obtain the unlocking key.
- Phishing : This method consists of using fraudulent e-mails, which when a user opens them, he/she is given a virus in his/her server. Thus, all his confidential data are in danger.
- The attack on the president : it consists in pretending to be a member of the company in order to get confidential information.
- Spyware or spying : it is a spying software that aims to learn your browsing habits and collect a maximum of data about you.
All these attacks can have real consequences on the companies which are victims of them. Indeed, the damages are more or less important and can be very expensive for the company.
Thus, it has become essential within companies to ask the question: how to face cyber-attacks? Ethic IT gives you 5 advices to optimize your computer security :
- Do not use the same passwords for your different accounts. Indeed, if a virus manages to find your password for one of your personal accounts, it will have access to all the others. This will make it easier for them to hack into your computer.
- Use multi-factor authentication or MFA. These rely on independent categories of credentials to verify the user’s login or any form of transaction. For this purpose, at least two independent credentials will be used. The purpose of MFA is to put in place defenses at different levels and to make it more difficult for unauthorized persons to access servers.
- Use a firewall. There are two options for this: use a web application firewall or a next-generation firewall.
Web application firewall is a type of application firewall, specifically for web applications. It detects and blocks any malware (malicious software or malware).
While the Next Generation Firewall (NGFW) is part of the third generation firewall technology, which combines traditional firewalls with other network device filtering functions.
- Use solutions against ransomware. To ensure a higher level of security, anti-ransomware programs block the techniques implemented by attackers. These solutions can protect you from Flash attacks and browser vulnerabilities, and even prevent new attempts that have not been discovered or fixed.
- Monitor your network and perform penetration testing. Network performance monitoring and diagnostic tools help IT and network operations teams understand the ongoing behavior of the network and its components in response to traffic demands and network usage. Measuring and reporting on network performance is essential to ensure that performance remains at a tolerable level. With respect to penetration testing, it is a simulated network attack allowed on a computer system to assess the security of the system.
Ethic IT offers many other solutions to be found on the website in Services – Cybersecurity.
Moreover, we strongly advise you to call a professional in order to use the best tools, so as to secure all your confidential data or your information system in a general way. Also, it is important to make your teams aware of the dangers of cyber-attacks by applying a computer charter within your company for example. This would allow formalizing the communication processes and the good gestures to adopt. Finally, team awareness can also be raised through group training to encourage exchanges and sharing of experience.
