Cyber Security Common Sense
Cyber Security Consulting Ops would like to lend some common sense to the insane world of cyber security. No one system can protect you assesses from getting stolen. No antivirus, no firewall, no cloud security. There is no one silver bullet. Hackers and their networks of evil-doers are too complex, too smart, and have too many resources to allow any silver bullet to prevent them from reaching their evil quest. I have heard business owners mentioning having security policies on their desktops and laptop. While this is a good start, it still will not prevent hackers from stealing your information. Why? Your desktops and laptops can only transmit the data when connected to a network. So if your network security is weak, your desktop and laptop are exploitable.
I received this article from the Department of Homeland Security which I believe summed up how businesses, homeowners, and everyone connected to the internet should think. The author is NCCIC.
I will move things around in the article to make things easy to understand.
“When your computer is accessible through an internet connection or Wi-Fi network, it is susceptible to attack. However, you can restrict outside access to your computer—and the information on it—with a firewall”.
“Most commercially available firewall products, both hardware and software-based come preconfigured and ready to use. Since each firewall is different, you will need to read and understand the documentation that comes with it to determine whether the default firewall settings are sufficient for your needs. This is particularly concerning because the “default” configuration is typically less restrictive, which could make your firewall more susceptible to compromise. Alerts about the current malicious activity (e.g., NCCIC’s Alerts) sometimes include information about restrictions you can implement through your firewall”.
Properly configured firewalls may effectively block some attacks
“Though properly configured firewalls may effectively block some attacks, do not be lulled into a false sense of security. Firewalls do not guarantee that your computer will not be attacked. Firewalls help protect against malicious traffic, not against malicious programs (i.e., malware), and may not protect you if you accidentally install or run malware on your computer. However, a firewall and other protective measures (e.g., anti-virus software and safe computing practices) will strengthen your resistance to attacks. (See Good Security Habits and Understanding Anti-Virus Software for more information.).”
In a nutshell, in today’s world, good cyber security protection can only be achieved with multiple layers of security. The defense-in-depth concept MUST be deployed with strong customer education before good cyber security protection can be solidly in place.
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