Bad Surprises: Snow in April and Security Breaches

Posted by Rich Popper on Apr 6, 2018 2:59:19 PM

 

The calendar says April 6. We should be enjoying some early springtime delights: a warm breeze, budding trees, early blooms. Winter cleanup should be underway, with snow blowers and shovels being put into the back of the garage to make way for lawnmowers and bicycles.

Yet, here we sit in New York—snow coming down, temperatures in the 30s, and winds howling at 50 mph. While we complain when things don’t happen the way we think they should, we are still forced to sit by and watch the snow come down because we are helpless to stop it.

Much like we take regular seasonal cycles for granted and only notice when there’s a change we don’t like, this is the approach that many companies take when it comes to network security. Many people assume that endpoint protection and firewalls are sufficient (like we assume we’ll see spring weather in April) and go merrily about their business—that is, until something goes wrong, Unfortunately, often times by the time they take notice, they have already been breached,

But, unlike dealing with Mother Nature, there is something businesses can do stop disaster before it even happens.

If you’re at all familiar with network security, you know that there are many layers, starting with the perimeter. And if you’re concerned with is network perimeter protection, then you likely have anti-virus/anti-malware software on your computers and a firewall between your internal network and the internet—and that’s likely all you have.

You may feel that you are adequately protected—you put in your weekly time at work, you enjoy the weekends, you read the daily news about breach after breach and you think to yourself, “I know I can’t get hit”—right up until the day that your company does get breached.

Why did you get breached? The answer is simple: complete network perimeter protection goes beyond what you have in place.

The perimeter layer, as well as several of the security layers above it, all contain known network vulnerabilities. These known vulnerabilities are being targeted by hackers worldwide, every minute, every day. Without an around-the-clock vulnerability management solution in place, you’re ignoring the attack vectors that hackers are exploiting.

WannaCry, Yahoo, Equifax…these are just few of the names in the headlines from breaches resulting from known vulnerabilities. The race is on and it is constant: it’s the hackers against the security/IT professionals, and whoever stays in front wins. 

The purpose-built, 24/7 vulnerability management tool of choice for SMBs/SMEs is Nodeware™. Nodeware was developed by security professionals to help close the gap in perimeter protection and keep the hackers at bay. Nodeware identifies all devices on your network that have an IP address, then provides continuous vulnerability scanning and new device detection to alert you about what is on your network and where the vulnerabilities are. In its simple but elegant UI, you can quickly locate any of the vulnerabilities that Nodeware finds, along with detailed remediation steps so your IT professionals can quickly get you protected.

Yes, it’s April 6thand the snow is coming down—but we have tools to deal with it. Shovels, brushes, snow blowers, salt, boots, coats, gloves—these are all part of the toolset I have to deal with the snow. But I still can’t stop the weather from happening, just like we can’t stop the hackers from going after our network vulnerabilities. The good news is that we all have access to Nodeware to deal with the issue—helping to identify and remediate those vulnerabilities.

Visit nodeware.com to learn more and access a free two-week trial. If you start your free trial today, hopefully by the time it’s up it should really feel like spring!

Topics: Vulnerability Management, Nodeware, Infosec