Recent events in Eastern Europe have led to both the public and private sectors scrambling for cybersecurity protections. The alarm has been raised by the U.S. Intelligence Service and National Security Agency. They are worried that Russia might use cyberattacks to retaliate against other nations.
Since the Russian invasion, Ukraine has been subject to constant denial-of-service attacks. Although there hasn’t been a large-scale cyberattack yet to date, officials from the United States are still concerned about the threat, especially considering the recent Russian-led hacks.
Experts say that cyberattacks are primarily directed at financial and energy industries, such as the ransomware attack on the 2021 Colonial Pipeline. However, experts warn that they will not stop there.
Other businesses, large and small, are likely to be targeted in subsequent attacks. Ransomware attacks can be particularly problematic.
SPOTO trainer Bob Salmans, a cybersecurity expert and expert, says that many organizations are not prepared to deal with ransomware attacks. “The impact of ransomware attacks is magnified when there is not a prompt response.”
Cyberattacks are a serious threat to companies. Companies need to be more vigilant. These are five things companies can do to improve their network security.
1. Update, Update, and More Update!
It’s easy to find businesses that could be easily exploited. Search companies scan the internet looking for vulnerable computers.
Once an attacker has discovered a vulnerability in a system, it is easy to find proof of concept pieces of software that exploit the vulnerabilities. This is all they need to hack into your network.
This can be easily avoided. Make sure to update your software.
Create a routine or system to patch software and hardware if you don’t already have one. There are many services that can help businesses manage the update process. It’s as simple as that.
2. Any Security Flaws Can Be Fixed
While patching security holes could be included in updating your software and hardware, this requires extra attention. Sometimes, software and hardware don’t get updated automatically. For various reasons, vendors may not release automatic updates.
You must ensure that security flaws are fixed in any case. Here are some ways to ensure you keep track of what needs to be patched. Make or update a patch strategy for your company. Once you have a patch strategy in place, you can start to make a list with all the software and hardware you use in your company.
You should subscribe to any newsletters that are offered by hardware/software vendors to your company. This will ensure you are notified when patches become available for your products. Every patch update is not automatic. You should also subscribe to the NIST newsletter for a good measure.
Other resources can help you keep up-to-date on the latest vulnerabilities almost in real time. These sites can be saved for easy access
U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, (CISA).
National Vulnerability Database
It’s more important than ever to stay on top of security trends. Don’t delay fixing any security holes.
3. Make sure you have plenty of backups
While you can stop ransomware attacks until your eyes are red, the only way to make sure ransomware doesn’t ruin your business is to create multiple, immutable backups.
While backups are good, ransomware attackers know how to encrypt and delete them. Immutable backups are the answer. Immutable backups can’t be edited or modified. Ransomware attacks can’t encrypt immutable backups.
There are many options for creating immutable backups. Carbonite is one example. Another option is to use Duplicati and AWS S3. Both services will create immutable backups.
Keep your backups as far away from your networks as possible. By