No such thing as security by obscurity

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

According to Derek Hershaw, CEO of MWEB, many businesses may never even realise that their network has been compromised until real damage has been done, not only to the business itself, but also to all its contacts.

"Your data may be lost or corrupted; you - and/or your customers - could become identity theft victims; or your computers may be used to distribute spam or malware," he says.

"Don't think because your business is new or small that it won't cross the cybercriminal's radar as a target, or that the information in your computer is not valuable enough to warrant an attack. There is no such thing as security by obscurity."

Hershaw explains that typical attackers do not target individuals or businesses - they target vulnerabilities. They scan the internet continuously, and when they come across a vulnerable computer - which can happen within a few minutes of an unprotected computer being connected to the internet - the attack is launched automatically.

This attack does not necessarily have anything to do with accessing or corrupting data: cyber criminals also look for PCs that can be used as a spam relay; as an illegal file repository from where illegal software, pornography or pirated movies can be sold and distributed; as a participant in a 'denial of service' attack; or to host a phishing site.

Hershaw points out that good security isn't as expensive or as complicated to implement and manage as it used to be.

In fact, all-in-one solutions that provide mail server protection as well as unified threat management services and that make it simple and affordable for the business owner to have full control over utilisation of the company's network, are reliable, affordable and easy to use.

How much security do you need? MWEB Business recommends that you should:

• consider intrusion protection; web content filtering; and secure web proxy with anti-virus, malware and phishing protection
  
• protect user accounts with strong passwords - and change them regularly
  
• ensure your anti-virus, malware, phishing and anti-spy software is updated regularly
  
• keep your operating system and applications current and patched
  
• remove unused user accounts and software
  
• limit access to sensitive information

Finally, MWEB Business recommends that you also take the additional precaution of regularly backing up your key data.

In addition to innovative security solutions, MWEB Business offers a range of services and solutions to meet all aspects of an organisation's IT needs, from connectivity and cloud-based back-up, archiving and business application services to voice and hosting solutions.