Cybersecurity is one of the most pressing matters for private companies and governments globally. Cyberattacks are becoming more advanced every year, and they are capable of bringing systems to a standstill and destroying entire business structures. However, there are steps you can take to mitigate cybersecurity threats in 2020.
1. Upgrade and Update Regularly
This is one of the best ways to improve your security against the top cybersecurity threats. Upgrades close off backdoors or vulnerabilities that new threats can gain access through. By simply keeping your software up to date, you can reduce the threat of viruses, worms, and malware.
2. Assign Privileges and Accounts
Assigning privileges and restricting access is another way to mitigate the risk of malicious threats. By limiting the number of people allowed on certain servers or computers with privileged access, you can lock down the ability to view sensitive information and the ability to alter it. You can either use Privileged Access Management or Automatic Credential Management.
The use of certain tokens, different multi-factor authentication techniques, and administration credentials is strongly recommended for organizations.
3. Signed Software Execution Policies
Related to updates, you should leverage a reputable operating system that uses signed software execution. This policy ensures that scripts, executables, and device drivers maintain secure firmware. You should also maintain a list of trusted certificates to be able to detect the use of illegitimate executables.
In conjunction with a secure boot capability, this will assure that the system maintains integrity. You should also maintain a list of applications that are whitelisted with signed software execution policies. This will provide greater control and forbid access to those programs which are deemed insecure.
4. System Recovery Plans
System recovery plans can help you restore data after an attack and mitigates losses. For additional protection, encrypt backups and store them off-site. Regularly backing up your data and ensuring that any crucial data is placed on high priority recovery is best.
5. Manage Systems and Configurations
Many known ransomware attacks are propagated on unpatched, old versions of operating systems. If there are inactive, outdated systems under your control, you should either update or get rid of them. This will remove any weak links in your systems that are vulnerable to malware.
6. Scan for Network Intrusions
Continuously scanning for intrusions is a great idea will help to identify any Trojan Horse that has entered undetected. Active pursuits should include hunt operations and penetration testing. Additionally, incident response procedures should also be in place to counter these attacks. This will improve real-time threat detection and remediation through continuous monitoring.
7. Employ Modern Hardware Security Features
Mitigate cybersecurity threats by using security features such as hardware virtualization, Trust Platform Modules, and Secure Boot. You should also make sure that old hardware is refreshed. Using a modern operating system on old hardware also reduces the ability of that system to defend itself.
8. Segregate Your Networks
Segregating critical networks and services will improve a system’s overall security. Deploying application-aware network defenses will block improperly formed traffic and restrict access to content. Depending on certain policy authorizations, this will protect many access points from being compromised.
9. Integrate Threat Reputation Services
Threat Reputation Services (TRS) gather crowd sourced intelligence from sensors worldwide. It’s in the best interest of any company to leverage threat reputation services for any DNS, files, URLs, IPs, or email addresses. This detects any malicious events. Hence, it allows for a rapid response to those threats before they occur. The basic advantage of this is that your business becomes aware of a much larger variety of cybersecurity threats than it was before.
10. Make Multi-Factor Authentication the Standard
Multi-factor authentication can be done via personal smartphones,voice or fingerprint recognition, or facial recognition. It provides stronger protection offered by password-based systems that are subject to human error and crackable character strings.
With cyber crime continually on the rise and becoming increasingly sophisticated by the day, businesses need to arm their cybersecurity arsenal with multiple layers of defense using different tools and techniques. Consider these 10 methods to mitigate cybersecurity threats while preparing and reviewing the cybersecurity roadmap for your business.
Guest article written by: Sanjay Deo is the President and Founder of 24by7security.com. He’s responsible for all business and corporate development at the company as well as execution of strategic plans. He is a Board Member at the South Florida CIO Council and is Co-Chair of the South Florida CISO Forum.
Great advice on cyber security especially on the point on segregating networks. I didn’t know that. Thanks
Great advice on cyber security especially on the point Thanks Dear
We struggle with our clients when it comes to two-factor authentication. They fight it every time. It’s hard to do this in smaller businesses where the second factor is usually their personal cell phone. We could hand out yubikeys to everyone but then we have to deal with the logistics and people losing them.
Great blog post overall. Keep them coming.
Cybersecurity threats are on the rise every minute but it is with article like this that people from all over the world are kept informed and protected. Great article and very well laid out.
Very thorough, and emphasises the complexity of cybersecurity and as such the importance of seeking support. This is not an area that any business should try and tackle unaided. I would recommend at the very least a phone call to an MSP to obtain some advice on the best options – the phone call costs nothing, and the guidance will be invaluable.