Security Threats and Defensive Measures You Can Take

Network security for small businesses is far from simple. There are countless threats out there that want to see your business fall, and it only takes one to see this come to fruition. Unless you take action now to protect your organization, you risk the future of your business. But what is it that businesses need to protect from, and what measures are out there that can accomplish this feat?

We’ll start by going over some of the most common security threats out there, as well as some of the best measures that your organization can take to keep itself safe.

Common Security Threats
Security threats come in many shapes, sizes, and degrees of danger. We’ve listed the most common here, but keep in mind that this list is by no means comprehensive. New threats are developed every day, and security companies and agencies have their work cut out for them in keeping them in check.

• Viruses: Viruses are little bits of code that can cause countless troubles for your organization. They can range in severity from annoying to terribly dangerous. Either way, the result is the same--they get in the way of your productivity and organizational security.
• Malware: Similarly, malware--malicious software--range in scope from being irritating at best to dangerous for your business, both in the present and future. Malware can even be found on websites or in browser extensions.
• Spam: Spam is the preferred medium for hackers to spread threats as it allows them to send out countless messages to hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting users. Spam can be anything unwanted in your email inbox, but the threatening kinds generally have files or suspicious links attached to them. More targeted spam messages called phishing attacks can be used to target specific users or organizations as well.
• Ransomware: Ransomware is still a hot topic in today’s business industry. Ransomware encrypts your organization’s files and locks them down until you pay a fine to the hacker. This can be used in cyber-extortion attempts in order to fund further attacks against unsuspecting users. Ransomware can spread in various ways, but spam is one of the major movers of these threats.
• Trojan/Backdoor: Trojan malware is the kind that sneaks into your infrastructure and hides for a time before creating a backdoor to your network. This provides an avenue for attack in the future at the hacker’s convenience. These can be difficult to identify because they tend to remain hidden until they are uprooted by an antivirus scan or security professional.

Security Technology for Your Organization
Proper network security depends on a multifaceted approach that takes into account user best practices and technology solutions. We’ve listed some of the best solutions to augment your business’ security.

• Unified Threat Management: A UTM is a great way to provide blanket network security for your organization, as it leverages the most popular and effective solutions on the market to secure your data. Included is a firewall to protect from incoming threats, antivirus software to remove threats from your infrastructure, spam protection to keep dangerous messages from making it to your inbox in the first place, and content filtering to keep your employees from time-wasting or malicious websites.
• Virtual Private Network: A VPN is practically required in today’s business world, as more employees are taking their business on the go than ever before. The issue with this is that data can be seen by outside viewers if the connection isn’t private--which is often the case out in the wild. A virtual private network can encrypt data while it’s in transit, making doing business on the go less risky and more secure.
• Password Management: Part of security best practices is making sure that your organization is using secure passwords. The problem is that secure passwords are hard to remember. Password management makes this easier by providing you with a secure vault for storing passwords. You call passwords using a master password, meaning that you’ll only ever have to remember one of them in order to take full advantage of the security they provide.

Washington Works can offer all of the above services and more, all to help your business keep security top of mind. To learn more, reach out to us at 301-571-5040.