Have you ever heard the term that employees are the weakest link in the security of the organization? If yes, then it is completely true. IT security is one of the tricky set of scales. No one is resistant to make an error, and making a mistake will take only one forgotten step or an incorrect click to bring down your complete system. As technologies are mounting up hackers are setting digital traps ubiquitously to profit from the employee’s one mistake, so the odds are frequently more in their goodwill than yours for productively.
If your firm is like most, and you are spending a lot of your budget on security: to protect your organization then you must be aware of the facts that spending on products is useful if the weakest link is attentive about the latest cyber security trends. The expert consultant’s help you understand where your weaknesses lie and sort out the expected mess when something goes incorrect. This approach can work, but it fails to prove that the weakest link in your security fence: are your employees.
The risk of cybercrime has created a noteworthy increase in concern on the matter of cybersecurity, with organizations spending dollars to shield themselves against this growing array of present and possible future threats. They frequently forget the menace exposure created by their own employees and customers.
Unfortunately, business heads don’t realize that the biggest threat is the human element in spite of the fact that barely a day goes by without news any data breach. It’s secure to say that we work in a risky environment with risky people. But there’s a mounting recognition that cybercriminals aren’t the only risk to an enterprise. So it’s also necessary to educate employees about increasingly complicated phishing and vishing techniques and also to carry out Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing(VAPT). It is imperative to carry out standard and systematic education and cyber training sessions to keep everyone up to pace on the most up-to-date threats and best practices. All the mandatory compliances also ensure the reduction in the cyber risk.
The sheer number of data breaches and cyberattacks that take place means that when developing a website, companies need to adopt a security mindset. Failure to do so can have disastrous consequences, including substantial fines, loss of business and reputational damage. Ensuring your website is secure means grappling with a wide range of security issues and in this post, we’ll look at ways you can overcome many of the vulnerabilities that pose a threat.
1. A comprehensive security approach
Right at the outset of the development process, there should be a disciplined approach to building a site that is end-to-end secure. This is particularly important when the site is being developed by different teams, each working on separate areas. Even if each team is working with security in mind, doing so without an understanding of what other teams are doing can result in data becoming vulnerable. To prevent this, there needs to be someone with oversight of security so that, once all the separate elements are put together, the final website remains comprehensively secure.
2. Validate all data
Not validating the data inputted by your users puts your website at risk from various, havoc-wreaking, forms of attack. These include SQL injection, cross-site scripting, command injection and other similar threats. Data validation, therefore, should be built-in to ensure all information inputted is not going to cause harm.
3. Scan your website from the outset
Scanning is fundamental to ensure your website is secure. It enables you to find previously undiscovered vulnerabilities and security holes so that you can fix them. You should scan regularly during the development process and, once launched, you should continue scanning on a daily basis and after each time you make an update to your website or system. Some web hosts will provide a website scanning service for you.
4. Update apps immediately and use clean code
Hackers send out millions of bots a day looking for websites using outdated, vulnerable applications they know they can break into. Updating your software to the latest version or applying a security patch removes these vulnerabilities and makes your site safer. Importantly, the sooner you update, the quicker you become secure. Auto-updates are the safest and most hassle-free way to do this.
To reduce the number of vulnerabilities overall, it is always good practice to delete unnecessary data, databases and software from your server.
Website developers should also make sure they do not use applications with known vulnerabilities. Older platform versions, themes, plugins, etc., should be replaced with the latest clean versions prior to being installed.
5. Use strong passwords
Everyone knows that the sophisticated software used by today’s cybercriminals makes it easy to crack weak passwords. Enabling users to keep default passwords or use weak passwords puts your company at risk of attack. For this reason, there’s no excuse not to enforce strong passwords on your site. Indeed, implementing two-factor authentication where, for example, a code is sent to the user’s phone, can make security significantly tighter. And as virtually everyone has a mobile phone these days, such methods of authentication shouldn’t be too much of a burden on your users.
6. Rigorous permissions management
The issue with weak passwords is exacerbated when administrator permissions and privileges are not well managed. If these are given to non-essential users and third-parties, the website becomes increasingly vulnerable to attack. Organisations need to have a clear policy in place about how permissions are managed and this should include precautions which ensure that the higher the level of privilege a user has, the stronger their authentication process needs to be.
7. Encrypt your data
If you store personal data about your users, the best way to keep it secure is to encrypt it. This way, even if your database is breached and the information stolen, the hackers won’t be able to access it. If you sell directly from your website, you should also encrypt the user’s financial data while it is in transit from their browser to your site. This prevents it from being stolen on-route. You can do this by installing an SSL certificate.
Conclusion
Security is essential for all websites in order to protect your company and your users from today’s sophisticated cybercriminals. To make your website secure, you need to put things in place during its development, rather than bolting them on at the end of the process. Hopefully, the points raised in this post will help you develop a secure site of your own.
Just like Rome was not built in a day, successful business takes days of hard work and challenges to reach a paramount height. Many enterprises that fall under Fortune companies today, took years to build their business and create an eminent brand image in the market. However, the reputation of any organization relies upon its brand and its presence on various platforms. One of the biggest platforms that majorly impacts an organization’s reputation is the ‘online platform’. A brand is a valuable asset of an organization, especially over the digital landscape. Therefore, organizations must ensure brand protection online in the same fashion as they protect their other valuable assets. Failure to do so may not only reduce the value of your brand in the market but also can completely damage the reputation of your business.
A brand is more than just a front face of an organization. It is an intangible perception in the mindsets of consumers that concerns the quality and attributes of a product or service of the business. Moreover, developing any brand requires significant time and investment, but it would take only a matter of some time for cyber threat actors to destroy a brand’s image completely online. Hence, due to the widespread usage of the internet in the business world today, it has become essential highly to protect your brand. Brand protection is basically the act of preventing the brand against counterfeiting and copyright infringement activities. It is the process of securing a company’s intellectual property (IP) and their associated brand from copyright pirates or imitators from violating trademark rights, legitimate website content, designs, patents, etc. In short, brand protection prevents the brand from being abused in the digital landscape.
Why Does Your Brand Reputation Matter Online?
Today people are bombarded with various online advertisements of ubiquitous brand names. Even though renowned brands are easily recognizable, there are several other websites or applications present online that counterfeit brand names for malicious use. There are many reasons for the importance of brand protection. For instance, imagine your potential customer searching online for a service or product of your business. But rather than coming across the legitimate website of your company, your customer happens to fall for a fake website that has impersonated the content of your website and looks highly convincing. What would be your take on this? Without your knowing, your customer would fall for it and there would be a high possibility that after finding out the illegitimacy of the fake websites, a major bad impact on your brand reputation would arise. While it is just a scenario of one customer, imagine the number of other customers who might unknowingly fall victim to such websites that are impersonating your business online!
Follow the image below to understand the problem more clearly:
From the above image, it can be clearly seen that phishers can easily trick users with fake websites using convincing content and make it look like the original one. Although this practice of brand infringing comes in various forms such as copyright piracy, social media impersonation, trademark squatting, etc., the phishing of website and application tops among them all. The malicious motive of phishers to create an impersonated website or application is to get most of the traffic redirected from official to fake platform. By doing this, they get to trick customers into submitting their personal information and later these cybercrooks misuse the provided information. In fact, recently in the two weeks of the survey, it was discovered that 94% of COVID-19 related cyberattacks were phishing attacks and it included fake websites with domain names as “Corona” or “COVID”. Also, it was reported that 51,000 Coronavirus-themed domains were registered at the beginning of 2020, between January and March!
Moreover, in February 2020, the banking sector was used as a bait in the phishing attack campaign. The cyber attackers targeted mobile banking users by sending phishing links that redirect users to fake websites impersonating well-known banks in North America. Nearly 4,000 users fell victim to the phishing attack where the cyber threat actors were able to capture their sensitive information and login credentials. In a threat research report, it was discovered that in every 20 seconds a new phishing website goes live! This means that 3 new websites per minute are specifically designed to target users to steal their personal information. These statistics are the call for organizations to understand how vulnerable their brands are online. Today, organizations without online brand protection hold higher chances of having phished pages of their legitimate website online.
Brand impersonation
No matter what kind of industry your business comes under, be it manufacturing, healthcare, food, or BFSI, phishers won’t spare you if they find your brand vulnerable online. They would not only create a fake website but would also get the power of risking your business’ brand reputation in phishing scams, including other malicious activities. This is why brand protection is the most critical aspect of every industry today.
What Types of Brand Protection Strategies Should Organizations Follow?
An organization must implement proper and adequate brand protection strategies to keep a watch on the online activities taking place against their brand. Amidst the complexity of evolving online threats, stringent monitoring, and security measures are highly recommended for every firm. Knowing how cyber threat actors can infringe your brand and forge your company’s website, it is necessary to enforce your rights to maintain the integrity of your brand. Here are the best brand protection strategies that every CISO and CIO must implement in the organization:
Stringent Brand Monitoring:
Regular and stringent brand monitoring ensures that your brand is not being negatively publicized on the internet by phishing web pages or applications. It is the best way to identify fraudulent practices taking place against your brand and maintaining the brand’s reputation in the digital landscape. With proactive brand monitoring, it becomes easier to detect website forgery and manage the domain.
Instant Take-down Tool:
Implementing brand protection software not only detects counterfeiting of websites and applications effectively but also ensures to instantly take-down phishing domains present online in the name of your brand. Only regular tracking won’t stop cybercriminals from impersonating your website but implementing an instant take-down tool will help in removing all phishing domains within a matter of seconds from the web browser.
Dark Web Monitoring:
Hackers can go beyond the regular surface web to exploit an organization’s brand reputation while creating phishing websites or applications. You may never know how your brand is being misused in the other hidden world of the web called the dark web. The dark web is an infamous part of the web where the confidentiality and legitimacy of brands is exploited. By implementing and using dark monitoring techniques, organizations can detect the copyright infringement activities taking place on the dark web.
Implementing these above-mentioned following types of brand protection strategies, organizations can secure their brand online and mitigate the chances of website forgery.
If you’ve never had a serious problem with your website, backups are probably something you don’t lose much sleep over. But just because you haven’t seen your website go down or lost data in the past doesn’t mean you are immune in the future. There are plenty of ways you can suffer such a disaster, with server failures, hacking and the accidental pressing of the delete button being just some of the potential causes. Without a backup, restoring your website would be a long, difficult and expensive process. Not convinced you need them? Here are five potential nightmares that might change your mind.
1. To err is human
Even with the best will in the world and all the right procedures in place, people still make mistakes. All it takes is for someone to accidentally click on the wrong button and important website files can be wiped. As a result, your website might cease to function. It’s bad for your reputation and you’re losing business while it’s offline.
While restoring your website is possible, it may take a long time to get it back online, especially if you are using bespoke software or a theme that has been customised for your needs. Installing a fresh version of WordPress and your theme, for example, might not take that long. However, if you’ve edited the code to change the look or functionality of the site, all these tweaks will need to be carried out from fresh, once more.
The longer restoration takes, the more your company will suffer and for some, the damage can put them out of business. With a backup in place, everything can be restored, as it was, very quickly indeed.
2. Disappearing content and data
Perhaps more important than the website is the actual content that goes on it and the data you store. If you lost your content there’d be no product pages, landing pages, blog posts or any of the other important information you need to share with your customers. If you lost your data, you may lose all your existing orders, customer details and inventory information.
Losing content or data is more problematic than losing your website files. With content, you may have to start creating it again from scratch which can be a massive task if you sell large numbers of products or have a substantial blog. If you lose customer data, you may never be able to get it back and may be in breach of regulations too.
3. Killed off by infection
According to Hiscox, there are 65,000 cyberattacks on UK businesses every day. One of the main forms of attack is to attempt to infect a company’s website with malware. Malware can do many forms of damage to a website, from putting your site at ransom to installing hidden programs that infect your customers’ computers when they visit your site. As a result, they can take your website offline or corrupt your files. If your site is corrupted, you host may have to take it offline to prevent the spread of malware to others while search engines will stop listing it until the issue is fixed.
Finding the corrupted files (sometimes the infection replicates itself) and getting rid of the infected code can be a long process and the easiest thing is to delete the entire website and install a backup. Of course, you cannot do this without a recent backup in place.
4. When great plans backfire
A common time for issues to happen with websites is when people make changes to them. There are quite a few things that can go wrong, for example, software compatibility issues, tweaks to coding breaking your software or new themes making your content appear all wrong. Indeed, any major modification to the functionality or design of your website can result in unforeseen issues, which is why many companies carry them out in an experimental environment before letting them go live. Unfortunately, lots of other companies choose to make the changes to their live website and when plans go wrong, the site can easily be put offline. With a backup in place, you can restore your old, fully working website straightaway.
5. The vendor trap
The success of your website relies to a great extent on the quality of your web hosting provider. A good provider offers faster loading times, increased reliability, enhanced security, managed services, 24/7 expert technical support and the right packages and prices for the growing needs of your business. There may be a time, therefore, that you consider migrating your website to a new host.
Moving to a different provider means moving your entire website to a new server. Without a backup, this means starting from scratch and for lots of businesses, this is just too much hassle to consider. As a result, many stay with their existing provider even if the services they receive are not up to the standard they require. If you do have a backup, migrating is simple. Indeed, so simple that some web hosts will do it for you.
Backing up your site
You can back up your site in numerous ways, such as doing it manually to a computer or using a plugin that saves your site to places like Google Drive or Dropbox. However, depending on your website’s needs, you may need to back up more frequently or keep several copies of older backups (e.g., if your latest backup took place after your website became corrupted, you’ll need to restore an earlier version). Your backups will also need to be stored remotely, i.e. not on the same server where your website is stored. If you don’t and the server fails, you’ll lose your website and your backup at the same time.
The ideal solution is to use a backup service provided by your web host. Here, you automate backups and control the frequency and number of backups kept. You’ll also be safe in the knowledge that the backups will be stored securely and will be backed up themselves by the host.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are numerous nightmares that can occur if you do not backup your website. All of them can result in your website being taken offline and even the loss of your critical content and data. For many businesses that operate online, such issues can have a significant impact. A backup is an inexpensive solution that enables your site to be restored regardless of the problem which caused it. For that reason, creating regular backups is indispensable.
When businesses think of digital transformation, cloud migration is often the first thing that comes to mind. Indeed, the cloud is a necessary requirement: it’s cost-effective, easily scalable and puts the latest technologies, like data analytics, automation, AI, ML and IoT at your fingertips. However, if you intend to deploy the best technology for the task at hand, the dedicated server still has an important role to play. Here, we’ll look at why dedicated servers are a key element in digital transformation.
Security
Data is the driving force behind digital transformation. Companies are collecting it in greater quantities than ever before to analyse it and discover the insights that lead to improvements in operations, marketing, finance, procurement and many other areas of the business.
However, while the cloud is the best place in which to carry out analytics, for some organisations, it is not necessarily the best place to store the data, especially personal and sensitive data. That’s not to say that the cloud is less secure than a dedicated server, both can be configured to the same exacting security standards. At eukhost, for example, we can offer the same protection for both, using next-gen FortiGate firewalls whose advanced security features include intrusion detection, anti-malware, DDoS protection, VPN and DMZ.
The difference lies in the needs of the individual company. If your business stores personal or sensitive information and has to comply with regulations such as GDPR, you may require a data storage solution that, unlike the public cloud, is not multi-tenancy. The role of the dedicated server here is that its single-tenancy storage offers greater compliance with stringent regulations. Additionally, some hosts, like eukhost, can develop and implement a security policy that meets both your internal and regulatory requirements, providing services that include intrusion detection and prevention, application firewall configuration, DDoS protection, email security and more.
In a world where cybercriminals are using ever more sophisticated tools, such as Ransomware as a Service, and where the number of cyberattacks involving data theft is continually on the rise, a dedicated server could be a wisely chosen component of your digital transformation infrastructure.
Performance
The other chief reason for deploying a dedicated server is that digital transformation often requires organisations to run resource-heavy applications which they will need to perform flawlessly. While the cloud does offer very high performance, our cloud VM’s underlying hardware, for example, features Xeon E5-2600s with 8 to 12 cores, for organisations which need it, a dedicated server can offer even greater performance.
The main reason for this is that you can define your own specification and build a bespoke dedicated server that perfectly matches your CPU, RAM and storage requirements. You have a choice of core or frequency optimised CPUs or both; single, dual or quad processors; and SSD storage and PCIe based drives. You can choose the processor speed and the number of cores and disks, giving you complete control of your environment.
For organisations needing to run resource-heavy applications, a dedicated server offers the best performance. Your applications will run faster, with those which rely on database access, like CMS, carrying out non-cached queries and data writes much quicker. With SSDs installed, a dedicated server can perform thousands of simultaneous reads and writes without the application having to wait around for the storage, as it would with HDDs. In addition, backups and restoration will be performed quicker and your server will respond more rapidly.
Other benefits of dedicated servers
Dedicated servers come as part of a hosting package and these provide organisations with other important benefits. This includes cost-effective server management with round the clock monitoring and maintenance of your system; geographical redundancy, off-site backup and replication services; and, importantly, 24 x 7 x 365 expert technical support, so that if you have an issue, it can be dealt with straight away.
Not a solution for every workload
Of course, a digitally transformed company needs to use the best technology for each workload and a dedicated server is not the number one choice for everything. While its single tenancy provides enhanced security and bespoke hardware offers superior performance, the virtualisation technology employed in the cloud makes it better for running mission-critical applications that need high availability rates of 100% uptime. Similarly, the cloud is also the better environment for workloads which need quick and easily scalable resources to cope with unexpected spikes in demand. Indeed, its pay as you go charging structure also makes this highly cost-effective.
Conclusion
For companies seeking the right technology for their digital transformation, dedicated servers have an important role to play. They offer the best solution for running resource-heavy applications and provide a secure, single tenancy storage environment for personal and sensitive data. The latest hosting packages ensure that companies have access to the best hardware and the most advanced security tools while being able to take advantage of server management solutions, backup and replication services, and around the clock support.
Data has become one of the most valuable resources for business, providing key insights about the company and its market. However, with so much data available for analysis, the need for effective data management is becoming increasingly important. Here are some the steps you can take to ensure your company is using best practice when it comes to managing your data.
1. Know what you want to use data for
Today, companies are gathering enormous quantities of data. Much of that, however, will never be used. To make data management easier, it is important to know what you want from your data so that you keep that which helps meet your objectives and get rid of that which does not. This will help reduce storage costs and make it easier to organise and manage what data is kept. If you have data which is not useful at present but which you want to keep in case it becomes useful in the future, you can always condense it and store it separately.
There are many things you may wish to use your data for. These include data-driven decision-making, automation and processing improvement, customer journey mapping and personalisation, audience targeting, product recommendations and so forth. Knowing what your objectives are will help ensure you only gather and collect the data that you need.
2. Security and compliance are key priorities
All companies are obliged to comply with data protection regulations, such as GDPR, and this means compliance should be foremost on your list of priorities. Failure to comply or implement stringent security measures can have devastating consequences. Under GDPR, businesses can be fined up to €40 million or 4% of annual global revenue, whichever is the greatest. For British Airways, this was an eye-watering €204.6 million. On top of any fines, there are also reputational damage and case actions to consider.
Working with the right hosting provider, implementing robust security policies and using secure data management software can help your data to be more secure.
3. Data quality is vital
The quality of the insights your data can provide is based upon the quality of the data you are using. While the first step to improving quality is to limit data to that which meets your company’s goals, it is also vital that data is accurate and up-to-date. Inaccurate or out-of-date information can provide misleading insights and lead to companies making the wrong decisions. For this reason, cleansing data should be something undertaken regularly.
Quality can also be improved by ensuring that employees know how to accurately gather and input data or that systems which collect data automatically are configured to do so correctly.
4. Eradicate duplicate data
Not only does duplicate data means you’ll pay for more storage than you need; there’s also the chance that it will be counted twice during any analysis and will, thus, skew the accuracy of any report generated using it. As there are various ways to receive duplicate data, companies need to put processes in place to discover and prevent it from being inputted into the data management system.
5. Managing access to data
There are two important things to consider when looking at access to data. The first is that, for data analytics to be effective, team members need access to all relevant datasets. This is incredibly difficult to achieve when it is stored in departmental silos where access is restricted to departmental members. Unifying data in a centralised repository, like a data warehouse, removes silos and ensures everyone can have the big picture. It also means data security can be centrally managed.
The second consideration is balancing security with ease of access. This means setting up logical access control where permission to access data and tools is granted on an individual basis depending on the employee’s needs. Not only does this ensure employees only use data they have the authorisation to access; it also means that if their accounts are hacked, hackers won’t have unlimited access to the company’s entire data or its applications.
6. Make sure data can be recovered
Data loss can happen for a whole host of reasons, including human error, malware, hardware failure, natural disasters, hacking and so forth. While losing personal data can get the company into hot water over compliance, all the other data your company relies on will have significant value too. Losing that data can put a company out of business. To ensure it doesn’t happen, having a remote backup system in place is crucial.
Ideally, you should schedule automated backups to be taken at the intervals which the company needs. For the increasing numbers of businesses who receive data continuously, this will mean having continuous backups taking place, so that, if the worst happens, you have as much recent data as possible to restore. Cloud storage is often the best solution as it is scalable, secure, integrity tested, can be encrypted and is easily accessed for restoration.
7. Choose the right hosting provider
The hosting provider plays a vital role in ensuring good data management. They will provide and manage the infrastructure needed and implement a range of stringent security measures including firewalls, encryption, intrusion protection, backup services, etc. Those opting for a cloud solution will also benefit from the scalability and payment model of cloud when it comes to storage and processing capacity. Crucially, however, is choosing a host that understands your goals and your needs and which can supply the expertise and computing environment your data management requires.
Conclusion
Effective data management is essential for businesses to make the best use of big data analytics and the insights it provides. Knowing what you want to use that data for, improving its quality, eradicating duplications and making it easier to access are key elements in that management strategy. So, too, are ensuring the data is secure, setting up logical access, making remote backups and choosing the right hosting provider.
The phrase “need for speed” might sound like a catchy one-liner from a Hollywood blockbuster. However, when it comes to information security, they are words to live by. Consider this vital fact: Malware permeates organizations with lightning speed and frequently causes millions of dollars of damage in a relatively short period of time. Because of this, cybersecurity teams should be able to respond speedily when threats happen. Growing your team from an average state into one with a rapid response mindset requires a few key elements:First, there has to be modular structure. What this means is that teams need a set response format to work with. This structure should evolve, adding processes or additional needed components, as a team’s obligations in cybersecurity change. As Bob Carver, CISSP, CISM, MS, says in a 2017 article, Cybersecurity: The Need for SPEED: “You don’t want to be one of those organizations that gets notified of a compromise by law enforcement before your security teams are aware of the situation.”
The second element to maintaining a rapid response culture is situational awareness. Is the cybersecurity team “in-the-know” regarding where to find their tools? What type of response to take, who to contact, when to act, and most importantly, how to execute their response — are all questions that should be answered before operating in a production environment.
Third, encourage drills to promote team agility. Even with cutting-edge skill sets and available resources, response time can still falter if both components are not used frequently. By “going through the motions” of regularly responding to simulated threats, a team can build the physical and mental bite that lessens the chance for mistakes during the execution of an actual incident response. Cybersecurity stakeholders will discover that this practice in fact leaves information ingrained deeper within a team’s psyche, both at the individual and collaborative level.
Accelerated response in cybersecurity is a learned practice. However, when a culture is developed, rapid response becomes natural and can increasingly match the hostile landscape created by malicious actors.
Every year, organisations lose billions of pounds to cybercrime – and it’s a persistent and worsening problem. Out of this has arisen a highly sophisticated cyber-defence industry that is continually searching for more effective ways to prevent hackers from accessing systems and the data they store. Here, we’ll look at some of the newest defences on the horizon.
Moving target security
Israeli company, Morphisec, has developed a new form of cyber defence which it describes as ‘moving target security’. Essentially, this method of security scrambles the names, references and locations of files in the server’s memory, as well as the application itself, in order to make it increasingly difficult for malware to infect a system.
As an extra layer of defence, each time the computer is booted, the file names, locations and references are re-scrambled, ensuring that the system never has the same configuration as before. This type of technology is used by a number of leading organizations to protect their systems, most notably, the London Stock Exchange.
Air gapping
Air gapping is the technique of isolating a system from both local networks and from the internet so that the only way it could get hacked is from someone getting physical access to the server itself. This is perhaps one of the most robust solutions for storing exceptionally sensitive data which needs to be kept ultra-secure or for protecting highly critical systems, such as those used for military defence or running nuclear generators.Â
Even here, however, there are potential security issues, as air gapped servers can be ‘pre-hacked’ prior to installation when they are being manufactured. In 2018, Bloomberg reported that Chinese special agents had compromised servers manufactured by a US hardware company by incorporating ‘spy chips’ into components that were sourced from China. In this way, the malware came pre-installed and kicked into operation once the servers were first booted. According to Bloomberg, the servers in question were sold to and used by leading US technology firms and by government agencies.
Co-operative cybersecurity
Another new cyber defence solution is known as co-operative cyber-security. This is when multiple organisations work together to store each other’s data in a so-called data-sharing alliance. This means that in order for a hacker to steal sensitive data from any of the participants, all of the systems would need to be hacked. Without being able to do this, hackers would not be able to get their hands on any complete files.
The technique employed to make this form of security work is called crypto-splitting. Here, each piece of data is encoded into thousands of numbers which are then randomly dispersed and saved on the computers of the participating organisations.
Given such levels of encryption and the fact that none of the organisations know what data they are holding, it makes it incredibly challenging for a hacker to access and make sense of any data they might obtain. Statistically, if the chances of successfully hacking a single system was a mere one per cent, the chances of doing this to just four systems would be 0.000001 per cent – and even then, they would need to find a way to unencrypt what they found.
Next-gen firewalls
Firewalls are nothing new, however, a new breed of next-gen firewalls now exist that take server protection to the next level. The industry leader is Fortinet, whose FortiGate next-generation firewall protects websites and web apps from virus, ransomware and malware infections while preventing intrusion from hackers and blocking distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
Offering high-performance threat protection, a next-gen firewall is designed to keep mission-critical applications secure. The FortiGate, for example, continuously updates its threat intelligence to provide robust protection from both known and unknown attacks.
Conclusion
While it is possible, according to some, to create an unhackable computer, the process of doing so would make it more or less useless in a network environment. If you need to use a network, there will always be a risk involved. This is why security companies across the globe are continually looking at new and more sophisticated ways to solve the issue of cyber-attacks. With cybercriminals now using tools like artificial intelligence and employing tactics such as hiding malicious code in encrypted files, the challenge to stay secure is even harder. Hopefully, from reading this post, you’ll see some of the latest defence techniques which are now available. If you are looking for highly secure hosting that comes with FortiGate next-gen firewall security, take a look at our dedicated server and cloud hosting solutions.
Since the last decade, cyber attackers have especially affected businesses that depend on computerized technology for conducting their daily business. Cyber crime is a significant threat to all businesses regardless of their sizes. Therefore, it is important to invest in cyber security in banking for protecting your business and data against malicious cyber criminals and hackers. It is important to build cyber resilience.
Cyber security in banking is of great importance. Since 2010, Indian banks have rapidly adopted newer technologies and digital channels while keeping up with the underlying objective of increasing revenues and footprints. 83% of CISOs agree on the increase in cyber attacks on banks since 2018.
Why is Cyber Security in Banking Important?
Since 2019, several banking institutions have been targeted by cyber attackers. Some of them include:
OTP Bank Data Leak
Database that was dated back to 2013 consisting of the personal data of approximately 800,000 clients including names, addresses, phone numbers, approved credit limit, work notes on client’s contract was made publicly available with. The database allegedly belonged to OTP Bank. According to the bank, there was no evidence on information leakage recorded in our bank, and the origin of this database remained unknown to the bank.
HCF Bank Data Leak
A database consisting of the data of the HCF bank customers was available on the internet with the personal information of the bank’s 24,400 customers. The database included customers’ names, phone numbers, passport details, addresses as well as the credit limit.
Alfa Bank Data Leak
Two databases belonging to Alfa Bank were found lying on the internet. The first database was dated back to 2014-15 and held the personal data of more than 55,000 customers. The database included customers’ names, their contact information, addresses as well as their place of work. It was speculated that these databases might have leaked during 2014 when the IT staff of the bank was going through mass layoffs.
Banks must be on their guard more than any other business since they are the custodian of money, which is the most valuable resource in the present times. In the case of a successfully deployed cyber attack, the results will be the most devastating. Since the foundation of banking lies in trust and credibility with the customers, it is very important to ensure cyber security in the banking sector.
The following are a few reasons why cyber security in banking is important and why should it matter to you.
The wave of digitalization: These days, the government is emphasizing ongoing digital. This means an increase in the population that is using digital money such as plastic cards and is going cashless. Therefore, it becomes important to employ precautionary measures that ensure cyber security for protecting your data and privacy.
Data breach leads to a breach of trust:Data breaches make it difficult for the customers to trust financial institutions. For banks, it is a serious problem since a weak cyber security system can lead to data breaches.
Financial Loss: When a bank suffers from a cyber attack, not only the bank but also, its customers suffer from financial loss. Recovering from this loss can be time-consuming. It will involve canceling cards, checking statements as well as confirming other minute details.
Your data is no longer yours: cyber security is extremely important when the attackers Once the attackers get a hold on your private data; it can be misused in any manner. Your data is sensitive and could reveal a lot of information about what might be leveraged by attackers.
How to Enhance Cyber Security in the Banking Sector?
Bank regulators should be allowed to examine third-party vendors that many credit unions are using these days for technology services.
Data breaches and cyber security incidents require a rapid response to mitigating the impact. Employ proactive measures to evade such cyber threats.
With security attack simulator and awareness tools, bank employees can learn about various forms of cyber attacks. This is ensured with the help of the tools four-step cycle. This includes simulated attack, knowledge imparting, an assessment which is followed by another simulated attack.
When it is about outsourcing application development work, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. It’s all about looking for the right partner that is the most appropriate fit for your team. As per the Computer Economics study IT Outsourcing Statistics 2014-2015, 62% of big organizations are outsourcing at least a part of their application development work.
As time-to-market needs increase and IT budgets decline, the trend of farming out development work is both rising and broadening to contain new services. In response, service providers have extended their offerings to comprise of product, technical, and process services. Notably, this runs the gamut from product management, information architecture and quality automation, analytics, and more.
If a mobile application is developed and executed in the right manner, it has the capability of offering increased efficiency, growth, and revenue for your business. That’s why development is so essential, as faults in this phase can lead to the development of a dysfunctional app that wouldn’t give you the preferred results.
To attain success in mobile app development, you need clarity of purpose and focus. To make this possible during outsourcing, you and your team have to sit down and ask some crucial questions before outsourcing, so you can attain success and avoid some of the most expensive pitfalls.
Things you Should Know Before Outsourcing an Apps
Here are some of the most critical questions that you must ask to select the correct partner for your organization’s specific outsourcing needs.
1. What is the purpose of the mobile app?
Are you developing an app just for building an app or because you are caught up in the hype about mobility? Will your application be a business version of your website, or will it have a particular purpose? Asking yourself the intent behind developing a mobile app can help you come up with a capable mobile app that aids a definite purpose. To make your mobile application successful, it must be extraordinarily focussed and address a specific purpose/function. You can discuss with the outsourcing team and narrow down on a definite problem that it is going to resolve or the particular purpose of your app. Ponder about why your mobile app is needed, how your customers can profit from it and how the application can be a more convenient alternative when compared to your website.
2. What should be a probable deadline for the completion of the app?
Narrowing down to a deadline for the app is very important if the mobile app is to be developed for a particular event or occasion. If the mobile app is not finished before the event, the entire development is futile. Even a delay of a few days might make an enormous difference and cease the mobile app from serving its purpose — moreover, the plan for the release schedule for the app. In case your application is released in different versions, you have to prepare for the release date accordingly.
3. What programming methodology do you want?
How do you wish your end-users to interact with your application? This supports the outsourcing developers to create an appropriate wire-frame. Also, think about the visual design needs and User Experience. Briefing the developers about the non-functional and functional needs of your application can help them to develop product backlog. You would also want to explain the required programming interfaces, outside services/systems, and third-party vendors, sharing such details is important.
4. How do you need the app to be hosted?
Do you need your mobile app to be plugged in to a new or preexisting infrastructure? Ponder about the hosting space that you would want. Brief the outsourcing developers beforehand about the post-launch support that you might need to fix the bugs and tweaks that you may get from users.
5. From where do you need the app to be downloaded?
Did you have an idea that the delivery channels of an application can significantly affect the design of the application? Getting listed on the App Store and Google Play is essential. You need to inform the developers in advance about your requirements for listing and get them talked at the development and design stage itself.
6. What level of security is needed?
Tell the developers that you are expecting security protocols that ensure that is the app is protected and secure from hackers trying to attack and breakthrough code vulnerability. Also, ensure that you get the privacy policy of the application drafted.
7. Does your application need to adhere to guidelines?
Ensure that your business app adheres to corporate guidelines like consistent screen design, design of icons, and branding conventions.
8. What are some of the risks involved?
Through the course of mobile application development, you might face risks and uncertainties that can hinder the project. To steer clear of such hazards, make sure that you build a risk register at the onset of your application so that you can file the actions at every step. This way, you can hold your stakeholders responsible for each risk factor.
9. Who are the main stakeholders involved in the development process?
It is crucial to identify the main stakeholders who are involved in the development and usage of your mobile application. Who would be funding it? Who would be owning it? Who would be benefiting from it? Who would keep the app active? Who would maintain the app daily? Asking such questions and trying to understand the involved decision-makers can lead to the successful development and running of the app. By comprehending the needs of the stakeholders, attaining clarity about their role, and taking responses to help in developing a successful application.
10. What budget can be allotted?
Many times the budget is overlooked when it comes to developing mobile apps. This is a significant reason why it becomes tough to estimate one. Make sure to sit down with the developers and discuss the various variables at play, be it multiple operating systems, testing environments, and more.
Summary
If you have made your mind to outsource your software development, you must have found some software development companies that you’re considering working with, and you are on the horns of a perplexity of making the correct choice. There is nothing better than talking to them and satisfying every query that you might have. Choose the web development company that passes all your parameters and comes out as reliable and trustworthy as a lot of your business now lies in their hands.
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