Hacking is not only a concern for large companies, but it is also a concern for all of us who have personal computers, as well as for organizations and governments. Almost everyone is prone to malicious attacks by hackers.
This is why it is necessary to create a firewall to prevent or reduce such problems. There are many ways to secure your network, and here are some important security measures you should take to be safe.
Table of Contents
Common forms of network threats
- DDoS attacks: These attacks overwhelm your system with requests for information until they eventually shut down your servers and websites.
- Advanced Threats (APT): With APT, the attacker gains unauthorized access to the system through encryption and remains anonymous there while collecting important information.
- SQL Injection: The attacker uses SQL queries to inject malicious codes into the system. In this way, they can delete private information from the system or copy personal data.
- Phishing attacks: These attacks trick people into clicking on malicious links or downloading questionable content to get into the system. It can target the entire system or a specific person. According to experts, phishing is currently the most common type of cyber attack.
- Ransomware : Once the attacker gains access to the system and encrypts your data, they will hold the system hostage and demand a ransom before allowing you to regain access to your system. The worst part is that you're never sure if they'll keep their word once you give in to their demands because you're dealing with criminals.
- Malware: Malware is a suspicious program that infiltrates your system, whether it's a worm, a virus, or ransomware. It first affects one device and then infects the entire system.
Types of system security threats
- Organized Threats: These are well-organized threats by attackers with a clear plan and mission as to why they are attacking a network. State attacks fall into this category.
- Unstructured Attacks: They are mainly carried out by amateurs who do not have a precise target as to why they are carrying out a cyber attack in the first place.
- External Threats: These are threats made against you by outsiders seeking to obtain your company's data and information.
- Internal Threats: They are mainly carried out by your employees, either individually or in collaboration with external partners. Internal network breaches represent a significant percentage of a network's security attacks. They could come from disgruntled employees or simply potentially criminal employees who were not thoroughly vetted when they joined your organization.
How to identify network security vulnerabilities
- View your network
Take a very close look at your network as if you were the attacker. Attack your defenses and measure how many threats can get through your system. Identify any vulnerabilities and weak points that are likely to facilitate entry for an attacker. In this way, you can seal any open "loopholes".
- Penetration testing
Can you identify employees in your organization who are likely to be tempted to click on malicious links? Penetration testing makes it easy to detect such problems in your system.
- Create a firewall
External and internal firewalls prevent unauthorized access to your network system. A firewall also monitors your system traffic. It notifies you in case of any unusual activity or intrusion on your system.
- Network Segmentation
Manage your network permissions so that not all team members have full network access, and choose a few employees to have more privileged access to your system. This way, you can control who authorizes what and prevent confidential data breaches.
- Threat Surveillance
Find out what threats currently exist on similar networks and whether your organization faces the same risk. Once you've identified the potential risks, you can implement mitigation measures before the actual attacks on your network begin.
- Network Monitoring
Continuously monitor and determine how sustainable your security measures are. Keep all your security measures regularly updated and consider changing any measures that you see no longer provide the required security.
In the end
You should monitor and update your security systems. Your customers trust you with their data, so exposing their information would be a risk to their reputation. Therefore, you must continue to improve your network defense system.
