Phishing attacks can be prevented with proper employee training.
As you train to help businesses determine their security needs, one essential priority is to show them how to improve their network security. It’s crucial for you to know the best ways to protect customer or proprietary business information from falling into the wrong hands, mainly hackers and others who want to misuse that information.
Here are some of the most important things businesses must do to improve their network security.
1. Keep anti-malware software up to date.
Anti-virus and anti-malware software is the first line of defense for catching viruses, worms, and other malicious programs before they can impact an individual or company’s network and computers. Most businesses and individuals have one common oversight related to their security software, however. Due to time constraints and having multiple priorities, companies may not keep their software updated, which means that it may not protect against newer security threats, letting a virus or other malware slip through.
2. Install safe-browse tools that detect and prevent connecting to malicious sites and downloading malware.
Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks occur when a hacker gets access to a part of the network and overwhelms it with attempts to get on the site so that it shuts down. DDoS attacks account for one-third of all website shutdowns and cause serious disruptions to online businesses that rely on traffic for their income. Windows Application Firewall tools can help to detect and prevent these attacks by creating rules that can block attack patterns and apply countermeasures when an attack is detected.
3. Train all personnel in safe online behavior.
A fundamental part of cybersecurity for businesses is making sure all employees know how to conduct themselves safely on the business network. Phishing attacks, for instance, cannot succeed if employees never download attachments from an email unless they specifically requested them and know what they contain. Teaching employees to verify an email’s contents and source before opening any attachments, along with other safe online practices, will prevent many vulnerabilities from occurring and decrease the chances of a data breach or other security problems.
By implementing cybersecurity practices, IT professionals can help businesses protect their information.
4. Monitor the network for suspicious changes.
Looking at healthy network activity and usage, then running periodic scans to look for changes in patterns of usage can help to detect any breaches or attempted breaches, and possibly to counter them before they become dangerous or expose any personal information. Cyber threats are a constant possibility, and cybersecurity professionals must be ever vigilant against new attempts to gain access to the network and its private contents.
5. Implement AI predictive tools.
Artificial intelligence currently works by predicting future events, including adverse security events, based on information currently available. AI cybersecurity tools can look at a network and predict the likelihood of future vulnerabilities and breaches so they can be remedied before anything adverse can take place. Getting in on AI tools now puts companies on the cutting edge of cybersecurity, but in the coming years AI predictive tools will be the norm rather than the exception.
PC AGE offers cybersecurity training to teach students how to recognize and counter security threats that may impact businesses and organizations. Request info about all our IT training programs and how they can further your career goals.