Shining a Light on Your Company’s Hidden Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities
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For any company doing business in the digital age, cybersecurity should always be a top priority. Hackers, information thieves and other cybercriminals make it their constant aim to find and target the vulnerabilities of businesses. If you think your business is small enough not to become a target, think again; hackers frequently look for smaller business precisely because their security protocols tend to be weaker and easy to hack. Let’s explore some of the common hidden cybersecurity vulnerabilities that could make your company prone to attack.
Unsecured Networks
Your company’s entire IT network should be protected by a robust firewall and encryption. Unfortunately, many companies either are unaware that their network is unsecured or they skip this step to save costs. Just as real-world burglars prefer to target unlocked houses or easy-to-pick locks, cybercrooks tend to look for the path of least resistance. When a hacker finds your network more difficult to access, he/she is more likely to move to the next target.
Inconsistent Password Management
Passwords are the keys to your company computers and accounts, and therefore they present one of the greatest vulnerabilities. When a hacker guesses a password and accesses an account, it’s just as if someone stole a physical set of keys to your building, and it can be even more damaging. Instructing your employees on creating long-string, hard-to-guess passwords can go a long way toward shoring up this vulnerability. Implementing a password management system that changes passwords regularly can also help.
Inconsistent Device Management
For convenience as well as economy, many companies nowadays have instituted a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy, allowing employees to do company work on their own laptops and tablets. Unfortunately, this practice comes with some significant risks because you have little control over an employee’s personal property, nor do you know whether the data on those devices is secure. Likewise, if a personal laptop is lost or stolen with sensitive company data on it, your business may be vulnerable. Any BYOD policy must come with clear and stringent oversight strategies and robust logins to protect company information. Better yet-do away with BYOD and make sure the company owns or controls all devices.
Poor IT Management
Perhaps as a combination of all the vulnerabilities above, a poor or nonexistent IT management system presents its own vulnerability. Without consistent protocols governing all employees, devices and the network itself, your system could be prone to attack both from hackers without and from malicious employees within. Having a centralized, coordinated IT management system in place can solve many of these vulnerabilities before they present a threat.
Diamond Technologies specializes in robust cybersecurity solutions for businesses both large and small. Contact us for more details.
Greg Ballance 
