In this edition we explain 5 elements of vulnerability scanning that help you reduce risks in your network.
If your organization has one or more pieces of equipment connected to the Internet, regardless of how careful you are, your business, products and services are already at risk. Be that your systems operate in your own infrastructure, in the Cloud, or as mobile devices, you can save a lot of money and grief, by investing just a little in security.
1- Avoid an attack: ¿Who is in your network at right this moment?
This very minute your whole organization could be under surveillance by your competition, or even by a hacker! Make and keep an inventory of all the assets connected to your network, and don’t forget your own mobile device.
2- The vulnerability scanning must be continuous
Some people believe that analysis is something that’s done just when a failure takes place. On the contrary! The new technologies permit you to analyze all the processes running on your networks and systems in real time and without pause, in order to detect weaknesses, configuration errors and attacks in your network as they happen. This way you can apply patches, make the necessary configuration changes, or repel intruders before it’s too late.
3- Update, update, and update to avoid attacks!
Forgetting the simplest things, and specially those related to Security, such as updating your antivirus software, may expose you to a malicious attack, loss of confidential information, and of course, the collapse of your network and therefore a headache for your organization. Ideally you want an automated tool, under the supervision of the Systems Administrator, that allows you to update in real time all the workstations in your organization. In this manner you can avoid vulnerabilities in your assets, and you can improve performance and security. You should be able to deploy your protection tools just like Police in the face of a criminal attack: quickly!
4- Don’t give your users any more than what they need
It sure isn’t good if, by an oversight, your users are able to access your security configuration! Make sure to constantly control your user accounts’ access privileges, and reduce their network access permissions to the absolute minimum necessary.
5- Lastly, fumigate your network!
Just as it sounds, check with a magnifying glass any suspicious activity, virus infections, and possible hacks into your network, and deploy your war arsenal at the battlefront, in preparation against future and very likely attacks.
