In the modern business world, there are many types of vulnerabilities in network security that could affect your company. Certain types of vulnerabilities in networks, such as ransomware, could easily cost your company millions of dollars in damages.
As a business owner, you need to be aware of the risks and how to mitigate them. You then need to take a proactive approach to protect yourself against these issues. This article lists 5 types of vulnerabilities you should be aware of.
1. Ransomware
One of the riskiest types of vulnerabilities in modern network security is ransomware. When ransomware gets onto your network, it will put unbreakable encryption on all of your company files.
The only way to get your files back is with a decryption code, which the hackers will provide for a price. Of course, nothing is stopping the hackers from demanding even more money after you make the initial payment.
The best way to protect yourself against this kind of attack is to have up-to-date backups of all your important files. When you have backups, you can simply revert to a recent configuration, and the ransomware is gone.
Of course, you need to have good data backup practices in your organization for this to work well. For example, you should have an automated backup system rather than a manual one.
2. Social Engineering
Many companies make the mistake of thinking that just because they have all the latest anti-virus and firewall software that their company is safe from a network breach.
Unfortunately, many of these breaches don’t involve bypassing and software at all. Social engineering attacks involve using clever psychological tricks to trick your employees into giving up critical information.
For example, a social engineer attacker might call up an employee claiming to be from the company head office. They might then ask the employee to divulge their password.
The best way to defend against this kind of attack is to have good security training for your staff. You can also limit the amount of damage that this kind of attack can do by making sure staff only have access to the things they need to do their job.
There shouldn’t be many people in your organization who have access to everything on the network. People should also need to apply for permission to access restricted files, and they should be able to demonstrate why they need to access them.
3. Insider Threats
Another thing that your organization needs to be concerned about is insider threats. Unlike other types of vulnerabilities in network security, these threats come from within your own organization.
Typically, one of your workers will work with a criminal group by helping them gain access to your company network. This kind of attack can be quite difficult to predict and prevent.
One measure you can take is to carefully vet candidates before you hire them. You should be wary of hiring anyone with a previous criminal background.
Of course, some people responsible for insider threats will have no criminal history whatsoever. You should therefore make sure that you have good permissions systems set up. This helps to limit the damage that an insider threat could do to your company.
You should also have regular security audits. Not only will this help to uncover any internal threats, but it might also discourage your workers from doing this kind of thing in the first place.
4. Phishing
Phishing is also one of the common types of vulnerabilities that your organization will face. Phishing is when hackers trick someone into divulging their password by creating a fake website. When the victim enters their password into the fake site, it’s sent straight to the hackers.
The hackers can then use this login information to access the real site under the victim’s credentials. Hackers targeting your organization might create a fake website that looks almost identical to your own.
Often, they register a domain name that’s very similar to the real thing. This might mean employees will end up on that website if they spell a URL wrong. A link to the website might also be sent via email.
One of the best ways to prevent your staff from falling for phishing scams is by giving them good security training. Phishing attempts are relatively easy to spot when your staff knows what to look for.
You should also make sure that your staff use a unique password for their work accounts. If they use the same password in their personal life, it means that phishing scams aimed at other websites could leave your company vulnerable as well.
5. Outdated Software
This is a security threat that people don’t always consider, but it could actually be quite dangerous. With any kind of software, there are always new vulnerabilities being found. Once an issue is found, hacking groups will be able to turn this vulnerability to their advantage.
The good news is that when the developers find out about these problems, they release a patch, and the security hole is closed. The trouble is that sometimes developers go out of business or stop supporting certain software.
In this situation, vulnerabilities will never be patched out because the developer is no longer releasing updates. This means that the more outdated a piece of software is, the more security issues it will have.
If you want to avoid this problem, you need to use only the latest software versions.
Network Support Services Can Help With These Types of Vulnerabilities in Network Security
If you want to keep your company safe from these types of vulnerabilities, it makes sense to work with a professional company. Cyberthreats represent a critical threat to your company, but the specific threats you face are incredibly dynamic.
US IT Services will stay right on top of the latest developments and keep you safe from the latest threats and vulnerabilities. If you want to work with a quality cybersecurity company, contact us today.