Month: May 2020

Moving your data and operations to the cloud is often described as a means of improving scalability, reducing infrastructure costs, and making it easier to stay updated. However, the implications for security can be a major concern for businesses, especially if you prefer to be in charge of your own security infrastructure.

Cloud Security Myths Debunked: Why Cloud Providers Can Be More Secure Than Hosting Your Own Data Center

Is migrating your data to the cloud less secure than a data center located on-premises? In general, moving to the cloud is actually more secure than doing everything in-house! In this article, we explore why the cloud is in fact more secure, and talk about the specific advantages of moving to cloud infrastructure.

What Makes The Cloud More Secure?

Let’s first define what we mean by “cloud” in this context.

The cloud is an abstracted set of computational and data storage resources, which are available on demand. Clouds dynamically allocate these resources to users as needed, allowing them to host applications and transfer data from any authorized devices that can access the Internet. Clouds may come in private form, where they’re hosted on company premises, or in public form, where multiple companies share the resources of a cloud service provider.

An on-premises private cloud is still accurately considered a cloud. However, in practice, this is not very different from an on-premises data center, as your company is still in charge of setting up the cloud’s security. For this article, we consider the cloud to be an off-site cloud service provider whom you contract to provide software, data storage, and other services over the Internet.

Cloud service providers host applications and store data on large shared data centers, which are all kept up to the same high standards of security. These high standards are what make the cloud a much safer place for your data, and to achieve them, cloud providers have several tricks up their sleeve.

Expertise

Even if you have a highly skilled dedicated IT team for your company’s network, it’s unlikely that they’ll have the same security expertise as a team of cybersecurity pros. These professionals have spent their careers learning how to avoid and defeat cyberattacks, securing client data, and setting up airtight networks.

Large cloud providers may have hundreds of these professionals with literally thousands of man-years of combined experience. All this expertise goes into ensuring the security of their network. This is one area that almost no IT department can match.

Updates

One of the advantages of using a cloud provider is that you never need to worry about software updates, as these are performed by your provider automatically. You can rest assured that you’ll always be running the latest version of your applications and security layers. This means that you’re also secured against the latest exploits and security flaws that older versions may be vulnerable to.

Physical Security

Physical security – protecting who has access to the actual hardware that hosts the cloud – is equally important to the integrity of a data center. Once an intruder has gained physical access to hardware, it becomes vastly easier to intercept and steal data.

The biggest cloud providers go the distance when it comes to physical security. They maintain 24/7 security teams who keep a watchful eye over their data centers, set up surveillance cameras, and even design their buildings with limited entry and exit points. The server rooms themselves have extensive access control systems that only allow certain employees to gain access to server rooms. Every activity is audited and logged with the identity of every person who enters the room.

While having your data physically located on your company premises may feel reassuring, it’s hardly a guarantee for security. To even approach the security levels of a cloud data center, you need to invest enormous resources in maintaining around-the-clock teams, setting up access points, and tightening the overall security of your company premises.

Disaster Management

Protection from hackers and intruders isn’t the only definition of “security.” Your data should also be protected against natural disasters such as fires and earthquakes. Keeping all of your data in one place runs the risk of total loss if your company premises are struck by such a disaster. And even if you have offsite backups, it may take hours or even days to rebuild, resulting in expensive downtime.

With cloud providers, data centers are distributed all over the world, and there’s no single point of failure that can cause a disastrous shutdown. In fact, your company might never even notice if one cloud data center is disabled – oftentimes, the provider can seamlessly move your session to another data center with updated backups.

The Cloud’s The Limit

Every cloud provider has its own strengths and weaknesses. Naturally, you should choose carefully and research their security practices and features before you pull the trigger. But in general, choosing the cloud is a safer choice than hosting your own data centers. And in the long run, it may even be cheaper and more convenient.

Looking to take the next step towards cloud migration? We’ve got you covered. Contact Network Coverage now for a free consultation and let’s work together to find a cloud solution for you. Our cloud services offer convenience, scalability, cost-effectiveness, and security for your applications and data, and you can get started in no time at all.

As the first wave of lockdowns and quarantines sprung up all over the world, millions of people switched off their office computers and transitioned into remote work. This transition has had wide consequences for IT personnel, but the biggest and most worrisome of them is the issue of security.

A Quick Cybersecurity Checklist For The Remote Work Transition

In an office environment, IT has control over every device’s security – but when workers use their own machines at home, it’s difficult to maintain that previous level of protection. In this article, we’re going to share a few tips and tools that IT can use to improve the cybersecurity of their remote staff.

Enforce Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication is an incredibly important aspect of cybersecurity. Enforcing it in all of your remote workers is the first step in isolating many login-related security issues.

Employ VPNs For All Company Data Transactions

Back when everyone accessed data from company premises, online privacy might not have been a serious issue. But since remote workers will now be accessing company data from their homes, VPNs may be necessary to protect your data. It’s important to choose a highly secure VPN with good security practices and proven encryption methods if you want this measure to be truly safe and effective.

Standardize The Use Of Firewalls

There was never any doubt about the necessity of business firewalls. However, many users don’t have equivalent protection in their homes and are vulnerable to outside threats. The most basic built-in firewall for Windows might not be enough, so you should consider providing enterprise licenses for your employees.

Use Secure Video Conferencing Platforms

Video conferencing tools have become incredibly popular in the wake of the pandemic, and millions of users have adopted them in their daily lives for remote meetings. But many of the most popular tools, such as Zoom, suffer from significant security issues. It’s important to pick one with strong encryption to prevent outsiders from snooping in on your sensitive communications.

Avoid Social Media And Free Messaging Tools For Any Business Communications

Social media and free personal messaging apps are often used by companies to stay in touch. While this is very simple and allows people to use platforms that they’re already familiar with, these are not very secure methods of communicating. Stick to IT-approved channels, such as enterprise chat platforms with strong security and authentication methods.

Keep Regular Backups

A single ransomware attack or hardware failure can cause extensive data loss, and without the protection of cloud backups or redundant hardware, remote workers are especially vulnerable. Make sure that everyone understands the value of backing up their data, and that they back up to encrypted physical storage or to a safe cloud.

Stay On The Same Business Cloud

When it comes to cloud backups, the whole company needs to be on the same page. Have users stay away from personal cloud storage solutions, and make sure that all sensitive data is uploaded to the same cloud platform that the company uses.

Ask Users To Stay On Top Of Their Software Updates

Automatic updates for Windows and other software might seem like an annoyance, but they often come with essential security patches that protect against exploits and malicious attacks. Your remote workers need to turn on their automatic updates for all of their software if they want to stay ahead of the curve. On top of that, they should avoid using outdated EOL software that is no longer being maintained by vendors.

Don’t Use Remote Desktop Tools

Remote desktop tools are notoriously insecure, yet many offices still use them as an access point for company systems. It may be better to access your company cloud via VPN instead.

Secure All Devices

Some remote workers may share their homes with other people who shouldn’t be privy to company information. Have all of your users lock their devices in order to keep your data out of prying eyes.

Educate Users On Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks have been on the rise lately – often taking advantage of people’s generosity or desire for information about the pandemic. Instruct your users not to open any suspicious links that they receive, even if they appear to be from reputable sources.

Final Thoughts

Most businesses are still reeling from this unprecedented large-scale transition to remote work, and IT may have some catching up to do. If you want the best shot at maintaining your security needs, you’ll need to stay on top of things and use these tips and tools as a basic checklist for cybersecurity!

The Cybersecurity Threats You Need To Watch Out For

The shift to remote work may be one of the biggest challenges faced by IT today! It’s a huge challenge to maintain security when an entire organization is using its personal devices to connect over the public internet.

Malicious actors in the world of cybersecurity are aware of this, and overall cybercrime rates have been steadily on the rise since remote work grew in popularity.

In this article, we’ll explore some of the new cybersecurity threats that have emerged thanks to this new work environment.

Phishing

With online transactions on the rise, hackers are seizing the opportunity to steal sensitive information under the guise of reputable businesses or brands. They employ fake login pages and use fraudulent third-party links that trick users into entering their login information, or downloading a malicious attachment.

This practice of fishing for information by posing as a legitimate organization is known as phishing. It’s been a major problem in cybersecurity for years, but the recent pandemic has made it even more popular as more and more people use their home machines to do sensitive work.

Phishing attempts are usually made over email, and they have disastrous consequences for companies and clients. Recent technological improvements have made it more difficult to distinguish phishing scams from regular emails, putting people at risk of identity theft, credit card fraud, and blackmail. It’s important to educate your staff to avoid falling for phishing attacks and to discourage them from opening suspicious emails.

Email Fraud

Fraudulent emails compromise a victim’s safety by promoting scams, unauthorized products, and false “rewards”. This cyber tactic spams your inbox with all types of fake letters asking for money, information, or donations to organizations. Usually, suspicious links will lead you to a temporary website made to gather your information.

Spammers pay for bots to send emails in bulk to sell their personal agendas, and this business has become more lucrative during the global crisis. With more people online checking their inboxes for work or personal reasons, fake emails continue to stack up in cyberspace.

Inconsistent Security On Personal Devices

Working from home requires you to use your own personal devices like phones, tablets, or laptops to access company information and URLs. This puts workers and corporations at risk of security breaches, especially if an employee unknowingly visits a website that infects them with malware.

While security measures can be effective against potential hacks, there are no guarantees that all employees will have VPN, anti-virus, and firewall software installed. While some businesses provide work computers, the majority of remote workers are taking risks by using their personal devices without added protection. And even if users do have the necessary software, they might not be diligent in keeping their applications updated.

To remedy this, you should establish consistent security protocols and software suites that all of your users should have on their systems. You should also ask your users to put PINs or password protection on all of their devices, set up two-factor authentication, and avoid unsecured biometric logins.

Unsecured Home Or Public Wi-Fi

Public internet connections are never safe to use – hackers may use these networks to snoop on connected devices and intercept valuable information. When visiting high-density areas like airports, restaurants, libraries, or malls, your staff should never connect to a Wi-Fi network without a password. Hackers may also use fraudulent SSIDs that even experienced users might fall for.

Your staff should also secure their own home Wi-Fi connections, as many users still leave their Wi-Fi connections without password protection. And it’s not enough to use just any security – everyone should use at least WPA or WPA2 security, as the older WEP protocol has been rendered useless against attacks.

Weak Passwords

Even with the best encryption and security measures, a weak password without two-factor authentication is sometimes all it takes to break into a system. Many users still use weak passwords, such as birthdays, names of relatives, and common words that are vulnerable to brute-force dictionary attacks. Others reuse their passwords across multiple accounts on multiple sites; if any of their accounts fall victim to a data breach, all their other accounts are compromised.

Your remote workers should never use weak passwords, and they should also avoid repeating passwords they use across multiple site logins. Educate them on the use of strong passwords, which may include special characters, numbers, and a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters. If possible, try setting them up with password managers, or have them change their passwords very regularly.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity is a difficult challenge under any condition, and even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you want to stay on top of security and respond rapidly and effectively to threats, you may want to partner up with experts who know how to manage cybersecurity.

At Network Coverage, we offer our expertise and years of experience in cybersecurity. Contact us now for a free consultation, and let’s work together to get your security compliance up and running!