8 Steps to Better Security

As technology is moving towards advancement the hacking movements are also.As business grows very high & gets more dependent on technology, it becomes more highlighted and easier target for hackers and others on the prowl for vulnerabilities. Data security attacks are basically done for three purposes :

By a person who just want the challenge of breaking into a system.
Most attacks have more malicious intent such as stealing credit card numbers, social security numbers or other personal data for immediate financial gain.
Corporate intellectual property theft is also done by hackers to resell the information or on behalf of competitors.

Must have tools and procedures for the protection of your highly sensitive data:

Regularly Backup Important Files

Backing up data is highly necessary because it ensures that, if data is lost by anyway’s, it can be recovered, but make sure that the back-up test has been done. Backup solutions include backing up data to an online storage service, to CD or DVD, or to some other removable media, such as another computer or hard disk. To prove the importance of backing-up of data.
An example Is given here-

Backing up of data is something that many of us do not do enough of because for many of us, this would severely cripple business. Think if anyone has not been backed up his data and when he needs it, he realized that the data was corrupted and unusable or all the data is erased.

Use A Good Anti-Virus Software

The Anti-Virus software used for security purposes should not only concern with viruses but also beware of phishing scams that make you think you are accessing your bank account when you are actually accessing a hacker’s website that looks like your bank account website. Install right software’s to block virus and prevent it from infecting your computer system. Many anti-virus products are bundled with anti-phishing feature.

Firewalls

Firewalls are used to ensure that only authorized information can leave and enters your computer system. For optimal security firewalls needs to be properly configured by a security expert.Firewalls are of two types:

Hardware Firewall- Physical appliances, installed on the outer layer of the network, such as the entry point for your internet connection.
Software Firewall- Software Firewalls should also be installed on every computer. Firewalls can’t be simply installed right out of the box.

Intrusion Detectors

Intrusion detection systems are used as a third layer of security to the network and are use to help detect & block malicious activities undetected by firewall or anti-virus product. Some viruses are programmed so well that they appear to be legitimate traffic that should be allowed through your network. But In reality, they are software that can bring down your entire network. Intrusion detection software can help detect this sort of attack as well.

Wireless security

In today’s growing environment, it’s highly required that the data on your mobile device is encrypted and password-protected, and that access to your network is limited to authorized users. Hence wireless security must be at the top of our mind if we want to use mobile technology in our business.

Example: While using a wireless internet connection, a hacker may be snatching your data from the air and stealing the credit card numbers. Your competitor may be wirelessly accessing your network and downloading your customer records and quarterly sales data.

It’s important that the Work with your wireless service provider to ensure your connection to the internet on your mobile devices is secure, and contact a security expert to configure secured wireless access to your network. When you remotely access your corporate network (wirelessly or wired), use a virtual private network (VPN) to ensure data transmissions are secure because VPN locks the data into a virtual tunnel as it traverses the public Internet.

Application security

Application security is basically used for online business purposes like e_commerce & in handling online databases. If you run your business using online applications or even applications on an internal computer network make sure the application is secure and that unauthorized users do not have access to it, because it is an equally important aspect of your total security solution as like viruses or phishing.
Example

Maybe you sell shoes via a website and use an online database to handle the customer information and e-commerce transactions. The database or the e-commerce software might not be securely implemented. Maybe there is a “back door” security vulnerability that your programmer did not know about, and a hacker can exploit it to steal information. Good hackers have the patience and expertise to find even the smallest vulnerabilities in your online applications, so protect your business and your customers.

Windows Users Regularly Update Their Software’s

Software updating is another important way to increase your security and it is very low-cost too. The operating system and web browser are two software that should be updated on a regular basis. These updates are easily available from your software vendors. Windows users can set Windows to automatically download and update patches as they are released, or you can also visit to windows update Website. On newer computers, the automatic updating is turned on by default.

Microsoft ActiveX Installer Service

Microsoft ActiveX installer service helps IT professionals to define approved host URLs that standard users can then use to install ActiveX controls. Organizations can use group policy to manage the installation of ActiveX controls.

Image is taken from Better-PC-Life