Comprehensive Security Solutions

Editor’s Note: This article was published in 2019 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness as of October 2020.

Companies are integrating technical systems into their operations more and more as society becomes increasingly technology-dependent. Unfortunately, with more technology comes more threats. For the small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) market, the need for high-quality security systems is critical. Hackers don’t just use one method to compromise your cybersecurity, and that’s why you need more than anti-virus and a firewall to protect your network. Your business needs comprehensive security solutions in place that include protection, detection, and response capabilities.

Protection

Protection capabilities include the services and regular maintenance that serve as the foundation of your cybersecurity program, forming a protective perimeter. These might include things like patch management, anti-virus, and firewalls. We put these tools and services in place and hope that they keep our businesses safe. However, modern attacks are designed to break through these protective defenses – and knowing that your business and data have been compromised requires additional tools and services with detection capabilities.

Detection

Detection capabilities look for indicators of compromise by monitoring the behavior of your network. For example, some of indicators of compromise include uncharacteristic activities like suspicious logins from far away countries, application downloads at odd hours, or your marketing manager suddenly having escalated privileges. These sorts of behaviors tell us that something is wrong.

Response

Your response capabilities should include a team of experts. This team of professionals should know how to respond, asses, and manage cybersecurity incidents. This team is important so they can mitigate any damage done to your business by an attack. Their tasks also include preventative maintenance like patching, upgrading, and researching your business’s network.

The anatomy of an attack

You can never fully prevent a cybersecurity attack. However, you can spot threats to your network before damage is done with security solutions that can recognize behaviors consistent with an attack.

Hackers get a foothold in your network by bypassing protective measures (through phishing, drive-by download, etc.). Once they’re in, they move laterally across the network, escalate privileges, and eventually get the keys to the kingdom. However, protective measures like firewalls and antivirus software are not designed to spot these behaviors. In order to know that a hacker has gained access to your business, detection measures that monitor the behavior of your network are imperative to preventing these bad actors from gaining the keys to the entire kingdom.

Conclusion

Not all security solutions are the same; in fact, there is a vast array of systems and monitoring tools you need to effectively protect your data. No longer are the days when a simple anti-virus program was sufficient to safeguard sensitive information. Today, you need to invest in a variety of security solutions to give your business the security it deserves.

Questions about how to protect your business? Give us a call at 763-593-3000. SUCCESS Computer Consulting helps businesses in the Twin Cities area with IT Solutions, Managed Security Services, and Microsoft 365 help.