At the annual Virus Bulletin conference way back in 2003, Dr. Sarah Gordon presented a paper on blended threats. It was a virus that exploited multiple vulnerabilities either to infect or replicate. Many technology stalwarts disbelieved the idea that malware authors/hackers would give sleepless nights to the IT managers one day. Unfortunately, the people who lacked the foresight to see the huge emergence of online threats had to pay a hefty price. As we moved towards the new era of digitization, the extent of vulnerabilities changed. From software vulnerabilities to network vulnerabilities, cybercriminals are always on their toes to capture the loopholes and eventually compromise the security.
Types of Network Vulnerabilities
Network security is significantly challenging today against current and emerging cyber threat vector. There are few types of vulnerabilities.
- Application Security
Some common enterprise applications consist of inherent vulnerabilities. If the patches are not updated, then there are high chances of vulnerabilities attacking the network in the organization. Once the criminals know about it, they get access to the network stealthily.
- Passwords
This is very crucial for an organization to maintain security standards in the IT infrastructure. Very basic credentials like “password”, “12345” or “abcd” automatically strengthens the vulnerabilities for easy access of the cyber crooks.
- Excessive Access
It is very crucial for the organization to decide how much access should be given to the employees to maintain integrity in network monitoring and breach possibilities. Even in case of IT administrators, too much of frequent access can result in lack of accountability.
- Workstation Security
If the employees are using laptops in the office premises or workstations, then the network security can be maintained with virtualization. Also, some file integrity monitoring gives the potentiality to prevent security attacks at the workstation level. This can enable IT to act quickly if users click a malicious link.
- Data Backup Issues
The ability to restore critical files and systems to a prior state is crucial in the Ransomware era. Complete recovery mechanism after data loss or encryption denotes the promptness to resume operations soon after similar scenarios. Off-site backups at frequent intervals are also a must.
Tenable solutions
One of the most reliable and robust network securities can be maintained with eScan range of security products. Vulnerability Scanner of eScan security solution checks the vulnerability of the software, warns about outdated security software for proactive virus protection and unprotected network settings. It even helps the administrators know the security flaws of software installed in the network infrastructure.
