What are the changing risks to network security?
The growing use of cloud and mobile computing, IoT devices, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies — and the rise of ‘shadow IT’ — increase further still, levels of risk, complexity and cost to securing an organisation’s data and intellectual property.
Organisations of every size (not just the big corporates) must now combat a wide range of increasingly sophisticated threats, including advanced persistent threats (APTs), cybercriminal activity, spam and malware. It’s depressing news but current network security across a growing number of businesses is just not keep them secure.
Modern attacks have become more difficult to identify and use several complex techniques to avoid detection as they sneak unannounced into business networks to steal their information and hold them to ransom.
Each hour of every day, hundreds of new malware variants are developed.
Anti-virus solutions now need to provide organisations of any size a deeper level of network security whilst minimising impact to network performance.
The combination of a business class firewall and antivirus is no longer the optimal solution available in light of the above.
A firewall (UTM) and antivirus (Endpoint) is not now, going to protect businesses as effectively as they previously have done.
Our recommendations therefore are now aligned to the increasing and ‘morphing’ risks you require protection from.
Sophos XG (rather than SG) – the key difference being that it provides real time threat monitoring through security heartbeat when deployed with:
Sophos Intercept X
In everyday terms this software moves away from pattern recognition and follows machine learning to analyse the behaviour of software and to enable the interception of ‘new style’ viruses in as timely fashion as possible – reducing impact on business networks. Sophos Intercept X delivers ZERO DAY PROTECTION.
If you can get zero day protection – now more than ever – businesses should consider investment.
Ransomware Attacks
It’s a dirty word, it plays dirty – we know this. Ransomware’s game is getting even dirtier. Ransomware is now proving successful in not only infecting your entire organisation’s data but now has the capability of infecting your backups.
Traditional approaches which have proved successful in the past are far less likely to be successful in the future and businesses need to face the very real possibility that data and now – back ups will be infected beyond repair by ransomware unless the draw bridge is truly pulled up.
Sophos Intercept X is currently the industry leader for blocking ransomware. The ‘infection’ might arrive on your doorstep, but Intercept X will prevent it crossing the threshold. (Because your drawbridge is well and truly up).
Protecting data and meeting compliance
The threat analysis report generated by Sophos Intercept X is also hugely supportive in GDPR compliance as it provides a crumb trail of the event, the when, the where and the how and IF any data was accessed and thus could be deemed, a data breach.
Thought For the Day
Qi as a hardware and networks support provider can only make recommendations – ultimately the decision is yours. We will always do all we can to assist you in the event of an attack but we need to be honest and open about the limitations of the results unless suitable additional solutions like Sophos Intercept X are deployed.
Please contact Will or Mike at Qi to discuss your individual route to improving your security in line with these changing and ever-increasing network threats.