Network Security Vulnerabilities and Assets Protection: Are we safe from attacks? Watching the premiere of the second season of Mr. Robot, and following the great sequences which allows us to witness Elliot’s paranoia in voiceover, is impossible to stop thinking about they way we use ICTs, and noticing how dependent on the work of others we are to manage and protect fundamental aspects of our lives: identity, employment, social relations, finances, biometric data, and goods and services consumptions profiles… In short, almost everything that is part of our life, has its place and impact on the virtual world. And vice versa.
Are we safe from Network Security Vulnerabilities?
From the safety of our screens, we silently witness the life of someone who is master and slave of network security vulnerabilities, and how they shape his life and the life of his acquaintances. But, would it be weird to think that there’s some logic in his particular perception?
The point is, episode after episode, we contract a little of his paranoia and understand without much effort that everyone -from the personal area to governmental and international scales-, is literally at mercy of third parties’ intentions and capabilities for protecting our assets from a fearful zero-day…
We are more exposed than we think
And what can we do if hackers, crackers, script kiddies, lamers, newbies, phreakers and whoever else, are 24/7 behind their PCs looking for network security vulnerabilities in all systems and find out that our assets protection, sensitive data and confidential information, is totally weak? Can you imagine a few Elliots, mentally unbalanced and very powerful, with a finger on your whole life?
Our assets can be relatively easy to vulnerate if we take for granted the security of our systems by only installing free antiviruses in our PCs. In other words, these systems are barely a line of defense that do not protects us from many other types of attacks.
Today, just as there are petty hackers and big fishes looking for network security vulnerabilities to take advantages over everybody’s assets, there are many others who are playing for the other side, trying to grant your assets’ protection.
Protecting ourselves is possible!
Pretty much in the same way as Elliot prays to both God and devil, and changes his hat’s color to save his neck in each episode, entire laboratories of white hat hackers are engaged to hunt the hunters, devoted to detect network security vulnerabilities to offer more resilient systems, and granting more protection for your assets.
Either way, there are simple extra steps that do not represent large investments, so you put your own bit to protect your assets:
How to protect yourself from an attack?
- Take advice from experts to acquire the best protection systems against ransomware and other malicious attacks.
- Prevent installing cracked antiviruses, as hackers and crackers are the ones who do this work. Do not even trust in security codes with expiration dates offered to activate any product, because it’s pretty much the same thing. Be smart.
- Always install and activate a combination of antivirus / anti-malware / firewall on your computer. Try to make an effort to pay for more than one reliable security system that complement the others, and do not simply content with free systems. Many of payable protection systems are quite accessible, even to the most modest budgets. Think that you are investing in your protection rather than expending money.
- In countries where digital security and network security vulnerabilities are more constant and frequent, try to browse in incognito mode. Also, avoid downloading browsers and programs from untrusted sources, and always check the SSD certificates.
- Remember that in war, soldiers are the most valuable weapons: Neither the best combination of antiviruses, nor the best piece of advice can prevent you from attacks and vulnerabilities that endanger your assets if you are wandering around in the net without taking minimal cares, such as accessing to and downloading information from non-secure sites, allowing any device to navigate from your network, or recording your passwords on your devices.
We’ve been warned!
Back in time, Sandra Bullock (The Net, 1995) warned us about the dangers of being unwary and exposing our most precious possessions to hackers, who aren’t non-fiction characters but real threats. Although much water has run under the bridge since then, threats are more present now than ever.
That’s why it’s always good to seek for the expert’s opinion. Allow yourself to visit our products and services before making your mind on any security system to prevent network security vulnerabilities… before some Elliot strikes first over your assets protection.
At GB Advisors we offer the training, support and advice you need to choose and deploy software tools in your organization. The tool that best suits the security needs of your organization and your employees is here.
