Apply These 6 Critical Actions Before Hackers Attack
Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) April 22, 2014 -- Computer security breaches are unseen. It can’t be touched, felt or tasted, but when it rears its ugly head it can destroy a company’s reputation, personnel files, credit card information and more. Albert E. Whale, President and Chief Security Officer of IT Security, Inc. of Pittsburgh discusses six reasons companies should be proactive about Intern et Security.
1.) First, be PROACTIVE rather than REACTIVE when it comes to IT security. This will pay off 100 fold for your business. Today, companies large and small are targeted from banks, utilities, health care institutions, manufacturing, service providers, Social Networks and government are attacked for financial, political reasons, and also just to cause problems. Breaches come from both inside and outside the U.S. Customers of hacked companies often find the security breaches, such as credit card holders who find fraudulent charges on their bankcard accounts, or fraudulent information on their Credit reports. By then, it’s too late. Mr. Whale says, “IT Security, Inc. sets up systems to help guard against a security breach. When companies come to IT Security with a security breach, they weren’t doing enough to keep their systems secure. We also help to mitigate systems after a breach occurs, as well as preventing them from occurring in the first place. The choice is yours, systems can be saved, but at a higher cost in time, money, and reputation.”
2.) Build security into your system from the start. “The current security posture of any organization must be to build security into the networks, programs and systems from the start, so that will help to stave off security breaches,” says Mr. Whale. “The days of trusting the security to a front end Firewall or proxy are long over. IT Security will evaluate your security posture and move you forward.”
3.) Discuss with your bosses how hacking happens, and once it happens don’t keep it a secret and continually worry about your job while doing your best IT work. Keep a continuous dialogue going so there are no secrets. We’ve all heard about Target stores, its long security breach, and the volume of compromised customer information. The IT department, according to Reuters (Frankel, Jim and Heavey, Susan. 2014. “Target Says It Declined To Act On Early Alert of Cyber Breach.” Reuters Web Site. Retrieved April 14, 2014. (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/13/us-target-breach-idUSBREA2C14F20140313), Target’s security service “labeled the threat with the generic name malware.binary. Target’s two security experts “typically don’t get excited about such generic alerts because (their security service) does not provide much information about those threats… Target's security team received hundreds of such alerts on a daily basis, which would have made it tough to have singled out that threat as being particularly malicious.” This is a case in point for continually auditing and reviewing the effectiveness of anti-hacking software. Often people who work in corporate IT departments do not let their superiors know they’ve been hacked because the staff doesn’t know how to fix the problem, heads may roll, or management will not understand the cost of solving the problem.
4.) Audit your computer system regularly. “All networks need to be audited and reviewed to determine their continuing effectiveness every six months, and the applications used in the environment every year,” Says, Mr. Whale. “These scans vary depending on the kinds of systems the company has and the needs of that company. ‘You don’t know what you don’t know unless you are being proactive.’ Get an idea of what attackers are doing today before they get into your company’s system.” Ideally, have an outside IT security service audit the system to make certain you haven’t overlooked a breach in a system with which you work every day. Mr. Whale says, “Several clients have told me that they don’t have time for me to perform an audit for them, and they wind up calling me back after they are hacked, spending 100 time more money and time after the fact. Start today rather than waiting – tomorrow is too late.”
Jim Lynn of All Access Hosting, calls on IT Security, Inc. for problems he encounters and cannot handle himself. “IT Security, Inc. is the big guns. Albert Whale is completely honest,” relates Mr. Lynn. “He tells me exactly what’s wrong and what it will take to fix it. He has rescued my clients and I from potential ruin. Confidentiality is of the utmost importance for me and for Albert and that’s essential. IT Security’s work is impeccable, always correct and up to date. Investing with IT Security has been well worth my time and money.”
5.) Determine rules for what type of web sites can be used on company computers. This may make your co-workers grumble, but it will help to keep computer systems safe from hackers. “People within a company who browse the Internet while at work invite malware into the computer system that isn’t supposed to be there,” relates Mr. Whale. “This malware can explore the company’s entire computer system gathering and exploring sensitive files and being hostile to the entire system before the IT department grabs a handle on it.” Determine what types of sites are necessary to the operation of the company and, after approval of management, tell your co-workers to leave the Internet browsing at home.
6.) Hackers never take a holiday! Certainly, we all take vacations and on major holidays you can roll a bowling ball on any downtown street in a major city and not ding a car. But, there are so many hackers out there holidays are devoid of meaning. Time and space mean nothing to the hoards of hackers. They want to be noticed, grab billions and they do. So beware and be proactive at all times.
“Ideally, all our systems need to be resistant to attacks.” Mr. Whale and IT Security, Inc. has quite a diverse background in mitigating strategy and application development creating specialized tools and IPS (Intrusion Prevention System) software for application security. “The point is to be proactive rather than reactive. Do everything you can to protect your business and customers from inside and outside the borders of your business.”
For more information, contact Suzi Neft Promotes, LLC at 412-721-4320 or IT Security, Inc. at http://www.IT-Security-inc.com.
Suzi Neft, Suzi Neft Promotes, http://www.suzineftpromotes.com, +1 (412) 721-4320, [email protected]
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