Secure Your Business from External Attacks!
Recent articles have adequately discussed how to save your company from internal downfalls. But there is another major operational risk hovering around businesses – external infiltration of company systems and data.
The recent Heartbleed attack has indeed bled the cyber world and drawn attention from almost everyone using the cyberspace for business. There is no doubt that many foes exist in the market. They challenge you in the form of business contenders, new regulatory policies, your own internal employees, and countless hackers.
Whatever it is, we know that organizations that require tight security have to be on their toes for continuously updating and elevating their security measures which may still not be enough to prevent and secure your organization from all external threats.
Jack, the risk manager of Alan’s company has created a strategy and plan to avert the multitude of threats that could throw their new project into turmoil. Have a look, and you will realize how well they are applicable to your organization.
Know your company and its pivotal points
In simple terms, your most prized possession should be in the safest locker.
Learn the company inside out and prioritize your assets and resources in terms of their value. When it comes to external risks, value should be based on the motives of your foe, which can be broadly classified into political, organized and casual.
Identify the targets by the factors that drive them to breach your business. It is then easier to put specific threats under better shields and firewalls.
Get into their shoes and try it yourself
How would you approach if you were the penetrator? Try doing it yourself and identify the methods, means and tools used for the breach.
Here, we realize that in the most dangerous intrusions, social engineering plays a role. It ranges from tracing the company’s surveillance to acquiring information through simple phone calls.
Casual interventions can be easily tracked back and damages can be rectified quite quickly. However, high-end social engineering is chalked out with considerable planning and time, and detailed information being part of such an approach always comes in handy for perpetrators.
Scan, scrutinize and study every chunk and bit of activity and tool constantly.
Time for the test!
You may have identified the vulnerable areas, but what actions are you going to take to guard them against attacks? Attack them to find the answers.
Your list of vulnerabilities can be long enough to spread across people, networks, data, internet medium, working systems and so on. Test them yourself and as a result, you will accumulate all the focus to the sole point of breakdown.Plan specific action plans according to Enterprise Risk Management Solution that will deal with all the important areas to target upon.
Maintain the Sherlock Holmes diary
Preserving a comprehensive record of the organization’s activities from business to individual level is the key to catch an intrusion.
Spot if there has been a deviation from the regular reports. This allows you to recognize any unauthorized access in your work environment.
Danish Inam Zubairi
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- Secure Your Business from External Attacks! - June 10, 2014
