Cybersecurity analysts usually talk about specific products when they try to point out the solutions that small business owners need to invest in. Rather than go that route, it might be more useful to think about what types of tools might be useful in any given situation. Since there’s so many different programs on the market today, a better would be to look over these techniques and see if you can’t apply them in your specific circumstances.
1. Strong Password Policies
No other digital security issue has gotten the amount of press that passwords have. Setting strong passwords that can’t be easily guessed is extremely important in an era where quantum computing technology is making dictionary attacks easier than ever before. Login portals that require users to set strong passwords can ensure that everyone who signs up for a particular site relies on something that’s at least tougher to guess than a single word followed by a handful of digits.
Even more important than enforcing good password creation is storing high-quality hashes of them. Keeping user login credentials stored in plain text format is extremely unsafe, so system administrators need to hash them out. Using something like a conventional message digest application is extremely unsafe, so updating the systems used to store passwords is as vital as writing good ones.
2. System Software Update Utilities
Password directories aren’t the only pieces of software that need regular updates, however. A majority of drive-by attacks occur as a result of outdated or misconfigured web browsers. Checking for regular software updates will solve many of these problems as having the most updated tech is vital in these operations. Operating systems tend to have complex monolithic architectures that are by necessity hard to debug.
That means they often have built-in exploits that only get discovered at some later date. Information technology departments that constantly make sure to install every security patch will usually run into fewer problems with worms than those who take a more casual approach. They still need some kind of outside security suite either way.
3. Comprehensive Antivirus Applications
Partisans who represent certain computing platforms have historically said that they didn’t really need antivirus software, since true virus programs only impact certain computing platforms. While this might be true to an extent, files get shared among users of so many different OS platforms these days that complete scanner applications are needed to prevent cross-contamination between different machines. Growing businesses that are investing in additional network assets will be among those who need this kind of software the most.
Say a file contained executable code for a certain platform, but it was stored on a system that didn’t make use of that platform. While it can’t do any damage where it is now, it may start causing problems the moment some copies it to their local hard disk. By using a comprehensive antivirus suite, users can ensure that they won’t pass along potentially harmful files that could have led to arbitrary code execution in a less cautious environment.