Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Your business is so small and lightweight that it could never be a cybercrime target, right?
Wrong, says MWEB CEO Derek Hershaw. "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," says Hershaw.
You may never even realise that your network has been compromised until real damage has been done, not only to the business itself, but also to all your 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," says Hershaw.
He 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 - the attack is launched automatically.
This attack does not necessarily have anything to do with accessing or corrupting data: cybercriminals 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.
There is a bit of good news though, which is that good security isn’t as expensive or complicated to implement and manage as it used to be.
In fact, there are all-in-one solutions that provide reliable mail server protection as well as unified threat management services, which make it simple and affordable for you to have full control over your company’s network.
How much security do you need?
Hershaw recommends that you should:
• consider intrusion protection and 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; and
• limit access to sensitive information.
Wrong, says MWEB CEO Derek Hershaw. "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," says Hershaw.
You may never even realise that your network has been compromised until real damage has been done, not only to the business itself, but also to all your 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," says Hershaw.
He 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 - the attack is launched automatically.
This attack does not necessarily have anything to do with accessing or corrupting data: cybercriminals 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.
There is a bit of good news though, which is that good security isn’t as expensive or complicated to implement and manage as it used to be.
In fact, there are all-in-one solutions that provide reliable mail server protection as well as unified threat management services, which make it simple and affordable for you to have full control over your company’s network.
How much security do you need?
Hershaw recommends that you should:
• consider intrusion protection and 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; and
• limit access to sensitive information.
