Maintaining Cybersecurity in Your Business

Cybersecurity, computer science or information security is basically the protection of networks and computer systems from external information contamination, computer viruses, theft of or destruction of their electronic data, hardware, software or service. The primary goal of cybersecurity is to defend systems from attacks originating from within the network. The attack could be physical (e.g., a virus that destroys a system’s important data) or non-physical (e.g., hacking a system’s confidential user information). The latter forms of attack can come from a cyber attack, a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, or a vulnerability in a system’s software. A DDoS is a collective action of attackers attacking a system because of a vulnerability in the system; the most famous attack on a government agency was a massive distributed denial of service attack (DDoS) which disabled many computers across the world for months.

The importance of implementing comprehensive information security measures can not be underestimated. Prevention is still the best measure against cyber threats and if an infected website can be identified and removed, the threat has been significantly minimized. There are a variety of security measures you can implement to protect yourself against hackers, including antivirus software, firewalls and other anti-virus programs, and firewalls themselves. The most effective means of preventing hackers and malware infections is with firewall and antivirus software.

Many companies are choosing to go the all-in-one route by purchasing both cyber security products and services. Purchasing these together provides greater functionality, but may cost more since you need to purchase the antivirus software for all your internal computers, as well as for your infrastructure devices. A great example of using all-in-one cyber security solutions to protect your business is with the implementation of a hosted firewall within your network perimeter and intrusion detection and prevention equipment in place at your office or facility. This will prevent any external threats, which keeps your network protected and increases overall productivity. Keep in mind that prevention is always the best form of defense against cyber attacks and that the more you are prepared for them the less damage they can do to your company.