We have written previously about Welcome to the “NEW NORMAL”, and, as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, we will simply talk about “getting back to normal”. We will have absorbed the new ways of working into our routines, and they will cease to be remarkable. But that does not mean the risks of the “new normal” will have disappeared.
The routinisation of home working is, in fact, a dangerous time for cybersecurity. When work patterns cease to be novel, workers tend to pay less attention to detail. The risk of ignorance is replaced by the risk of complacency. Cybercriminals are astute observers of human behaviour; they are skilled at finding and exploiting our weaknesses. What should you look out for and how can you stay safe in the new normal?
If your employees are working from home, even part of the time, your systems may be exposed to threats that don’t arise in the more secure corporate environment. This does not mean your company network is impenetrable! Every business needs adequate cyber protection. But added vigilance is necessary when workers are accessing your network from home.
Your employees may render your system vulnerable through inconsistent security standards of home WiFi networks, and/or multiple endpoints provided by numerous devices within the home and appliances connected to the Internet of Thing (IoT). As the business owner or manager, you may create risk by using a legacy VPN system.
By now you will have trained your staff to look out for unusual activity such as new programs they did not install; a slowing down of computer functioning; unusual pop-up ads on the screen; or loss of control of the mouse or keyboard. These are warning signs that your network has been penetrated.
Recognising these signs early and taking immediate action is vital to avoid catastrophic damage to your data and your reputation (and possibly your bottom line). However, just as a vaccine against COVID-19 is preferable to treatment strategies, prevention of threats is always better than a cure after the damage is done.
We can monitor all your out-of-office devices 24/7, providing protection when the network is busy and when everyone is sleeping – precisely the time when a cyberattack can go unnoticed. Think of us as your network security guard, patrolling your cyber streets while you relax, giving you peace of mind that your system is secure.
NEWORDER is proud to be the South African partner for ALERT LOGIC®, the industry’s first SaaS-enabled managed detection and response (MDR) provider. ALERT LOGIC® is your first line of defence against threats.
ALERT LOGIC® works by scanning for the full range of threats at all stages of the attack lifecycle. ALERT LOGIC® can spot incoming threats as well as malware and other attackers already in your system. Did you know that average “dwell time” the amount of time a successful compromise continues to operate prior to detection is estimated to be 78 days? That’s two and a half months of an undetected breach. A lot of havoc can be wreaked in that amount of time, and it could well take you longer than two and a half months to undo the damage.
ALERT LOGIC® also identifies unpatched system vulnerabilities. According to cybersecurity news website DarkReading, 60% of data breaches over the past two years began with an exploit of an unpatched system. It identifies your organisational assets and scans them for known vulnerabilities. You will be advised of appropriate remedies according to the seriousness of your vulnerability and the potential impact of a breach. It is then up to you to apply the appropriate patches. The systematic surveillance provided by ALERT LOGIC® significantly decreases your window of vulnerability and thereby reduces your risk of penetration.
Another entry point for hackers that is often overlooked is Cloud Misconfigurations. Data breaches caused by cloud misconfigurations have been dominating news headlines in recent years. DivvyCloud researchers compiled a report to substantiate the growing trend of breaches caused by cloud misconfigurations. The report stated that Breaches caused by cloud misconfigurations in 2018 and 2019 exposed nearly 33.4 billion records in total. The vast majority of these incidents can be avoided. Alert Logic’s service provides security for cloud apps & monitoring across the enterprise so that your organisation does not become part of a statistic.
ALERT LOGIC® has a threat intelligence team that consists of experienced researchers with a deep understanding of threats and attacks. They use machine learning and extensive data collected from an extensive customer base to keep on top of the latest threats and provide robust security coverage. The ALERT LOGIC® Security Operations Centre monitors, evaluates and escalates the most relevant threats, alerting you to incidents that require your attention and giving advice on remedial action.
Hackers are looking upon COVID-19 as a massive global opportunity. More people are working from home. Everyone is distracted, and united in a common concern, making phishing attacks unusually easy. But this is also the ideal time to step up your cyber protection. NEWORDER can protect your organisation from serious information security threats. Our managed professional services model provides you with scalable and reliable emergency response communications and information services.
Our partnership with ALERT LOGIC® gives you unrivalled security value and peace of mind. NEWORDER & ALERT LOGIC® would like to offer you 90 days of MDR Essentials free, with a one-year contract. You can opt-out of the annual contract within the 90-day time period at no charge or further financial obligation.
