Buzz words in business are all too common but some don’t go away. Recently there has been a lot of coverage about internet security with large companies falling victim to hacks and other aggressive tactics used by cyber criminals. This is not only confined to large business – smaller businesses have also been targeted. Often a ransom is demanded, when hackers have taken over their computer network.
We would not walk out of our house and leave the front door unlocked. Neither would be leave our car doors open with the keys in the ignition, and just walk away. So why do so many businesses not see the importance of protecting their assets and data? If you left your front door open anybody would have access to your financial and personal documentation. If you were to leave your company exposed in the same way, then a potential hacker will have access not only to your business critical information like bank details, but you clients as well!
How many clients do you think would remain a client, if they found out that their financial details had been accessed via your systems? Commercial off the shelf products are also available to hackers, who test them for weaknesses. They then exploit those weaknesses against anybody using that software.
In the USA, darkode.com was recently taken down by the FBI in their investigation in a group of hackers called Lizard Squad. On this website, hackers would trade details of how to penetrate different security software, as well as selling services to each other for larger attacks. For a relatively small upfront cost, hackers can make upwards of £50,000 per month!
Now think about your company – how would your company respond if you don’t have access to its systems and data? Would you be able to restore your data from a backup? Backup validation is key. Most companies back up their systems but don’t actually know if they can fully restore their systems.
At commencement of working with a new client, the borwell team recommends two actions. The first is that backups are verified (i.e. recovered, to check they are working), and also a Vulnerability Assessment is undertaken. All the recommendations from these two activities can be remedied, while the borwell team designs and builds a new Secure Web Application to increase the profitability of the business and to improve staff productivity.
So why is cyber security important, because without the correct protection you may as well hand over all the critical data on your business and your clients business to the cyber criminals!