PROTECT CORPORATE NETWORKS AGAINST THE BIGGEST SECURITY THREAT: INTERNAL USERS
by Jared Ruth, Director of Product & Marketing
COX BUSINESS : CLOUD SOLUTIONS
In 2018, there were more than 1,200 data breaches across businesses and government agencies that exposed over 446 million records, according to information compiled by the Identity Theft Resource Center. While high-profile data breaches like Equifax and Capital One dominate news cycles, SMBs and large enterprises can safeguard data and minimize business downtime in the event of a disaster with the right backup and recovery processes in place.t The fear of IT security breaches from external
The most common incidents that jeopardize
factors may be what keeps CTOs and CIOs up at
network and/or data security occur one of two
night, but the most probable security incidents
ways: either by negligent users operating in human
threatening corporate systems and data are actually
error or ignorance, or by disgruntled current- or
triggered internally, by either company employees,
ex-employees, contractors, or business partners
contractors, or business partners. For example, in
operating with malintent. Even the most cautious and
2016 Ottawa Hospital suffered a ransomware attack
technical of users are capable of human error, like
when employees clicked on phising emails, which
clicking the wrong button or misconfiguring settings
locked and encrypted four of its 9,800 machines.
or permissions. Other mistakes made by internal
The hospital IT department wiped and restored the
users stem from a basic lack of knowledge about the
infected devices from backup, quickly recovering
types of security threats that exist and how to identify
lost data and avoiding ransomware payout. Most
and mitigate them, such as opening a fraudulent link
of these types of events are caused by accident
or email attachment that initiates a virus or malware
or simple human error but can also be committed
attack. Whether an internal security breach is the
with malice by disgruntled workers. Companies of
result of negligence or malicious intent, it can have
all sizes, particularly those that store confidential
devastating consequences for businesses ranging
personal information and face regulatory compliance,
from a temporary disruption in workflow to massive
must protect against (and be prepared for) all of the
loss in public trust.
internally-caused, worst-case IT security scenarios. Mistakes made by people with high-level access According to a recent market study conducted by
can trigger a series of events that can lead to wide-
Forrester Research and Disaster Recovery Journal,
spread outages. For example, the 2011 Southwest
62 percent of companies surveyed have experienced
blackout, which left more than 7 million residents
a critical risk event at least once during the last
from San Diego County to Western Arizona and
three years, with IT failure of a business system or
Tijuana without electricity, was described by federal
application being the most common. While disaster
investigators as largely a consequence of human
recovery plans are typically designed to ready
failures, not hardware. The event originated with
businesses for catastrophic events like fire, flooding
a tripped line during a maintenance procedure
or overseas cybercrime, they must also account for
that resulted in cascading outages through several
the most commonly-occurring internal incidents that
interconnected energy grids.
can threaten business continuity. .
When IT departments operate lean, disaster recovery initiatives are often driven by people rather than
THE THREATS THAT LIE WITHIN
technology. This confines administrators to more
Businesses are operating in an increasingly
manual and reactive processes, which hinders their
interconnected and mobile-accessible world, which offers both greater convenience and more risk. While every business fears the consequences of an IT security breach, many are surprised to learn that internal users are their greatest points of vulnerability.
ability to quickly resolve service interruptions that can negatively impact business. Inevitably, security measures can slip through the cracks and expose company networks and data to risk.
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COX BUSINESS : CLOUD SOLUTIONS
MITIGATING INTERNAL RISK
Global spending on information security products and
Disaster recovery often implies preparing businesses
services will exceed $124 billion in 2019, according
in the case of a cataclysmic event, but the more likely
to recent Gartner projections. For businesses just now
incidents businesses will face are recovering from
entering the security market, how and where to get
failure at the application or server-level due to internal
started can be a daunting task. Effective IT security
errors.
is an orchestration of proper planning, the right technologies, and skilled engineering talent.
PREPARE FOR THE UNEXPECTED While organizations prioritize mitigating external security threats, inside risks are far more probable and at greater cost to the enterprise. According to Ponemon Institute’s “2018 Cost of Insider Threats” report, the most common form of internal security threat is related to employee or contractor negligence, which was responsible for 64 percent of total incidents while 23 percent were malicious attacks committed by insiders. That same report values the average cost of insider-cause incidents at $8.76 million in 2017, more
For many organizations, managed service providers offer the quickest and most cost-effective path to rolling out world-class security solutions that provide end-to-end coverage and are infinitely scalable. Managed cloud services for centralized desktop management, server and email backup and recovery, DDoS mitigation, and Security Information Event Management (SIEM) can deliver reliable security and disaster recovery solutions to help mitigate both internal and external risks.
than twice the $3.86 million global average cost of all breaches during the same year.
SOME SUGGESTED BEST PRACTICES ON HOW TO PROTECT BUSINESSES AGAINST INTERNAL INCIDENTS:
systems and data, administrators can limit users’ ability to move data in and out of the platform. ENGAGE A STRATEGIC PARTNER - partnering with a trusted managed services provider equips IT departments with all
CREATE A DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN -- document a
of the necessary cloud services (email archiving, desktop
response to potential security threats, assign roles and
virtualization, failover and recovery, etc.) and engineering
responsibilities, and keep the plan up-to-date. Disaster
expertise to ensure mission-critical applications are available
recovery plans should take inventory of IT infrastructure
to users during virtually any type of disaster. Businesses
and cloud storage components, and the sequential steps to
are often surprised to discover that outsourcing is a cost-
restoring operations in the event of failure. Make sure service
effective alternative to purchasing, managing, and maintaining
level plans provide adequate support and response times to
hardware and software on-site, allowing them to free internal
avoid additional loss to business.
IT resources to focus on more
TEST DISASTER RECOVERY SYSTEMS – a recent study found
IT AND CYBERSECURITY AWARENESS – one of the best
that 23 percent of businesses surveyed with disaster recovery
lines of defense against unintentional negligence is educating
plans in place never test them. Create mechanisms to audit
employees about the different types of security threats
systems at least twice per year to identify (and resolve) any
(viruses, malware, phishing, etc.), how to identify them, and
lack of coverage and/or broken systems prior to an actual
protocols for escalating suspicious emails and requests.
disaster.
Communicate requirements for dealing with sensitive customer information at the time of employee on-boarding
VIRTUAL DESKTOPS – virtualization allows organizations to
and immediately revoke credentials when employees are
move all their applications and desktops to the cloud and
terminated or quit. Mimecast states it best in its 2019 email
create customized end-user environments that are tightly
security report: training must be engaging enough for it to
controlled and managed from a single location. While
work, frequent enough to stick and brief enough to not be
centralized desktop management provides access to all
a burden.
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