More than half of UK’s businesses have been affected by cybersecurity attacks. Government studies show that 1/5th of UK charities too were part of the companies who experienced a cyber attack in 2018. The most common types of attacks that hackers initiated were in the form of fake emails, impersonation by scammers, viruses, and malware.
With cyber security breaches becoming a growing concern for UK businesses, its time that organizations took matters into their own hands and set in place robust cyber monitoring practices. totality services offers comprehensive IT managed services London companies rely on to secure their operations and business infrastructure.
Test for cyber security health
Regular testing of your cyber networks is a great way to identify if you have been hacked or if you may be hacked in the future. When testing for cyber security attacks, it’s important to look for 3 types of threats:
- Malware like defacement’s, SEO spam, and malicious redirects.
- Website vulnerabilities like SQL injections and cross-site scripting from weak codes, unprotected contact forms/user fields, outdated plugins & applications.
- Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
Now, let’s take a look at the tests and scans you need to run to identify these threats:
Port Scan
Open ports are one of the easiest routes available for hackers planning a security attack on your systems. Port scanning tools help detect which ports on your computer are open and whether they’ve been hacked or not.
Some of the common port scanning tools that you can use are Nmap, Unicornscan, Angry IP Scan, Netcat, Zenmap and ShieldsUp. Many services are partnered with these companies, and they can conduct comprehensive port scanning of your systems.
Penetration Test
Penetration testing is a form of conscious hacking of your organization’s networks and computer systems by trained individuals. A comprehensive, conscious attack is initiated to expose all the problem areas, fault lines and any other holes your systems may have in their security.
This is an exhaustive test and involves the attack to come from both the external and internal mechanisms of the system. Another term for this test is “ethical hacking.”
Vulnerability Scan
Vulnerabilities are basically weak links in your software codes, which can be exploited and manipulated by hackers during the attack. When hackers modify your vulnerabilities, they change the fundamental way in which your software functions.
Some hackers exploit zero-day vulnerabilities, where applications and software don’t have an update patch; meaning, they offer greater scope for attack. Others exploit older applications and software, which hasn’t been updated in a long time.
Vulnerability scanning solutions like Tenable Nessus, Comodo HackerProof, Comodo HackerProof, Secunia SmallBusiness, Nexpose Community and Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) are great options to choose from.
Program Bug Scan
Bugs are one of the most common signs of a cyber attack. Your IT support in London can organize a managed bug bounty program where your networks and systems will be hacked-into by experienced, ethical hackers and students to expose any bugs or vulnerabilities in your company’s cyber security. This is a very cost-effective cyber security screening test, similar to penetration testing.
Network Scan
Your computer networks are the lifeblood on which your technologies operate. That’s why any attack to your network could be completely crippling and devastating to your company. Monthly network scans can help you understand the strength of your networks and can help you identify any new issues, especially when the network is open source.
These days, you have network scanning tools like Nessus, Zenmap, OpenVAS, Qualys FreeScan and more, which can scan networks within minutes and provide you with an up-to-date report about network security.
Rogue Access Point Identification
Rogue access points are those points of security threat, which aren’t part of your company’s networks and systems. For example, an employee connects his personal laptop to your office computer via a USB cable. Any virus or malware on the employee’s laptop can easily travel to your office computer.
Such rogue ports are active agents which spread threats to uninfected systems. Rogue access point identification checks help detect and eliminate any threat that has come from the outside.