Heads Up On Harmful Hackers

Recent security breaches have made the headlines, but advanced persistent threats, or APTs, are now making headway as a data theft force to be reckoned with. While other types of threats cause annoying little blips in web access or even large-scale business disruptions, APTs can be far more devastating — calling for more protection than traditional security measures may provide.

You should be aware of these “low and slow” attacks. They can easily go undetected for lengthy periods of time, making you vulnerable to have precious data stolen with the click of a mouse.

But what can you do to prevent these attacks?

Here are five points to help set up a good defense:

1. Start with an APT Security Assessment to identify the presence of APTs and vulnerable security gaps in your network.
2. Apply a higher level of web and email filtering with deep packet inspection to examine outgoing traffic on a more detailed level to find hard-to-detect APTs.
3. Consider a data loss prevention service that alerts you when specific data leaves the company, such as large data file containing proprietary designs, to flag potential botnet activity in real time.
4. Explore using a network-based firewall to continuously inspect inbound/outbound traffic to stop threats before they infiltrate user devices or your network.
5. Educate users. We have a saying around AT&T that applies to employees at any company: “You are the firewall.” By training employees on security do’s and don’ts you send a message that security is everyone’s job.

To learn more and to read the full post, click over to our Network Exchange Blog.