You will be breached

One of my favourite phrases is that there are two kinds of businesses out there:

Those who have been breached and

Those who do not know they have been breached.

There is little argument that cyber threats are now the biggest risk to the modern business. The attacks are growing in volume and sophistication. Every new vulnerability is jumped on by the cyber-crime elements and they move rapidly to gain maximum advantage.

The modern business is failing to keep up – often not even knowing that the vulnerability is there and that there is already a breach. The number of compromised and breached accounts our J2 CSC team discover each day is testament to this.

Every single day we find compromised and leaked information, compromised accounts and this is across every industry and in businesses of all sizes. Do not think that you are too small or too big to be affected.

The J2 CSC team constantly identify organisations that have open and accessible email platforms.  Gaining access is simple, all we need is one detail. We still gain access using default passwords or through a previously known breach. Access to these critical systems is easy when you have the information. All you need to do is read – not hack.

Once they have your email system – the own all your information. Perimeter and gateway security is vital but if you don’t see what is happening within the mail system, server and hosted platforms you could be bleeding without seeing the wound.

An internal bleed can also be fatal.

So then the question comes about, where do I focus my attention? Where do we start?

Do I lockdown the firewall? Focus on patching? Monitor activity? Do we ensure modern malware detection? How about intrusion detection?

YES. The simple answer is yes – do all of those. Then do more. You need to see, understand and be able to respond. It is pointless if you have amazing malware detection and email gateway security, but leave the firewall open and do not patch your equipment or identify changes to configurations.

In the cyber war, we cannot focus on one area of the assault. The most effective method is to start from the viewpoint that you do not believe that you are untouchable. Nobody is.

We are here to ensure that you have visibility across the entire battlefield. Stopping everything is impossible – but you can eradicate and reduce cyber risk simply by knowing. Once you have that complete picture, we will alert you as soon as there is a breach. Once identified the attack can be killed before any major damage has happened.

Using ongoing and consistent monitoring, vulnerability analysis and mapping REAL usage and activity will let you know where you need to apply the bandages as soon as it occurs.

Identify, neutralise, remediate and then investigate. Then start all over again.

The number of threats will not decrease – visibility and agility is the only way.

We can help. Get in touch.

John Mc Loughlin