These days, cybercriminals have many tricks and techniques they use to gain access to business networks. However, they are often taking advantage of common vulnerabilities. This makes it important to establish a regular process to find these vulnerabilities that put a company at risk. The following are some ways organizations can reduce their online vulnerability:
Running Vulnerability Scans
Scanning and remediation should be performed every month, aiming to fix high and medium severity vulnerabilities. This can keep remediation activities manageable. Tech leaders are constantly discovering new vulnerabilities and organizations can easily miss patches. Plus, company systems may change. Because of this dynamic cyber threat landscape, companies must understand what is happening in their network at least monthly.
Conducting Vulnerability Assessments
This approach will provide IT administrators with a better understanding and visibility into the security flaws of a business. The investigation involves the use of vulnerability scanning tools, penetration testing, and network mapping to offer a detailed look at existing security flaws. Assessment results help develop business vulnerability management programs, further helping company leadership improve their security.
Patching Software Regularly
Patching must include all third-party software. When patching operating systems, serious vulnerabilities can be left unaddressed on the network infrastructure.
Establishing Data Loss Prevention Programs
Beyond employee data, companies rarely gather the kind of personal information cybercriminals plan to steal. Usually, they possess huge data storage filled with intellectual property. Protecting this data from these bad actors is vital because a lot of organizations depend on these repositories to keep their operations running smoothly.
Increasing Employee Training and Awareness
Often, end-users are the most vulnerable link in an organization’s IT security chain. Thus, organization leaders must make sure their workers understand security best practices to help minimize the risk of phishing attempts, malware attacks, and other targeted threats. Training activities must be regularly adjusted to keep pace with new methods of digital exploitation. Companies must have employee training periodically to condition their workers to be cautious and aware of new threats.
Practicing Secure Network Engineering
This includes checking guides for technologies and protocols in use. There must be a hardening checklist for every kind of operating system and vial application used. Also, it’s important to have an image library and a process to keep the images updated whenever patches or updates are released. Default passwords for internal network protocols and devices must also be set or changed. Cybercriminals can easily exploit defaults.