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malware | Digital Marketing Agency Surrey | Cream Soda Media

Jul 10
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DATABASE SECURITY FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM SIZED BUSINESSES, VIRUS TRIES TO ENTER THE CONNECTION

Database security for small & medium sized businesses

By | Insights | No Comments

Is your database security locked down? Your company handles a lot of data, for example, customer data for marketing and transactional purposes, and many of you create your own database. It’s important to keep all that data secure and away from prying eyes. Unfortunately, hackers – those nasty cybercriminals – continually attack companies to steal data and sell it to the highest bidder. Even if you have a small business you are prone to deal with this Malware security risk, so it’s extremely important to find ways to eliminate it. And that’s where database security comes into play.

Cream Soda Media manages Check Point Managed Fire Walls for various clients, wanting to protect their database entry points.  The Check Point Firewall is a 24/7 monitoring service, analysing any escalation of cybersecurity which requires immediate action.  It monitors any request for changes outside of your protocols, which you can set, also providing you with an online dashboard of real-time reports.

Why should my database have antivirus protection?

Why should I pay for database security? The most important thing to consider about databases, is they hold long term company data. This could be your budgetary plans, financial accounts, marketing plans, employees’ salary, and addresses + customer details. When competitors or cybercriminals access that data, they use it to cause real harm to your business. Not only that, but data leaks, in general, can be detrimental to your company’s image.

showing a malware virus entering a business database

 

Customers or suppliers will trust you less if they see your data spread online. They are afraid the same thing might happen to them if supplier cost prices or customer terms are shared. Malware security ensures that you deal with any issues like this before they appear. Not only do you protect your company data, but you also maintain company & brand reputation

Should I invest in database security for my business?

Any business should. As you can see above, even the smallest data leak can have awkward consequences. People will trust your business less, future sales or client recruitment could be tarnished and the PR from such leaks would be disastrous.  You must focus on protecting your database with the right security software. Doing this will provide more confidence – which is a 2-way thing (customer and you) and control.  Business database security eliminates any possible challenges while still having power over the process and experience itself. do not be a victim.

How does the GDPR affect all of this?

Data protection has become very important in the past few years, and with so many leaks the EU had to take action. That’s where the GDPR comes into play. This set of rules enforces customers to have more control over their data. On top of that, if your company uses customer data incorrectly or you encounter data leaks, then you end up paying a whole lot of money as a penalty. Obviously this can ruin any small business, and that’s exactly why you employ a Next Gen Antivirus System to offer comprehensive data protection and benefits.

How can data protection benefit my business?

Data protection can have a massive impact on your business and the way you operate. It might not seem like a lot, but when you run a business, you manage a lot of personal data from your clients. This comes in the form of their name, address, bank accounts and this should be out of reach for anyone outside.

However, hackers can attack your company and access all that data. By investing in data protection, you will find it easier to meet compliance requirements and prevent breaches. Not only that but it will show customers that they can trust you

Data protection helps show everyone that your brand delivers and maintains value in the long run. It also helps to protect business growth with any hiccups. You have a lot more goodwill and control over how people see you in the business world and that alone matters more than you imagine.

Endorsing cyber security for a database proves a focus on ethics and how important they are for your business. The more you focus on results and value, the easier it will be to generate more leads and customers. It’s a great way for you to support the customer, push the boundaries, and improve the services you offer.

Once you are confident data is secure, you can finally focus on expanding your products and services with more personalised features. This brings in more attention and value for customers since they know you are delivering exactly what they need.

In addition, data protection helps improve well-being, people don’t want their address leaked, never mind their details being used for credit card and loan applications

How to enable security controls on my database

Old databases didn’t have a lot of security features. Newer databases however require passwords to gain access to the fully stored data. Something as simple as checking the security controls and making sure everything is fully optimised for your customer’s safety will help.

You can even restrict database access to specific customers and staff, that will make control easier and a lot more convenient when you protect any data. When less people have access, it’s easier to figure out where a leak is coming from.  Break access up by department i.e. Finance, Customer Services, Operations or Marketing and give them each Admin status, reducing access for all depletes cyber risk.

Start providing temporary passwords at each log in, therefore you eliminate the risk of saved passwords being leaked or stolen.  The numbers of Admin should be minimised to reduce and control to certain actions on the database.

You should also consider checking the path level configuration. This will help you figure out if the default settings are vulnerable or not

Should I disallow database copying in my business

Why is this a good idea? Sometimes hackers will not delete the file, they will just copy it. What you can do is to disallow the database copying process. It will help you prevent anyone from copying and duplicating data, all cyber criminals can do is see the content.

Should I encrypt all my customer & company data

Encryption can help prevent hackers from accessing important company data. You need to focus on making it as hard as possible for anyone to break into customer details. Make sure that you always use the best and latest encryption systems. The last thing you want is to keep your data on a hard drive that anyone in the company can access.

Your database and the backup database needs to be encrypted with limited access. This way few people actually know how to decrypt and access that. Thankfully, you can prevent such issues with a professional database security solution

Stay away from external connections

Your database should never have accessibility features like external connections. The reason is simple, USB sticks or external devices can have malware and that will automatically bring in a massive range of problems for you. These can initiate data transfers automatically without even knowing, and you will find yourself with data leaks all over the internet very fast. If you want to keep your company safe, the best thing you can do is to implement the right database security firewall and stick to it.

Create a backup and recovery system

The reason why this type of feature works very well is that it allows you to focus on a failsafe in case there are problems. Having a copy of your data in a place where no one knows does help a lot. Even if the data is accessed, things like copy protection can keep you safe. Plus, even if the hacker deletes your files, you will have a dedicated copy somewhere else. It’s a system that a lot of businesses use and they consider it to be very helpful. You just have to do this yourself, but don’t offer information to anyone when it comes to where that backup might be located.

Cloud systems can work very well in this type of situation. However, not all of them are very secure, and if they lack data encryption you can end up with problems. It makes sense to have your company data encrypted and password protected even in the case of your backup. After all, you can never be too safe

Keep your database on a separate machine

Locate the data on a separate server, safe in a steel cage, or locked in a vented room.  Any backup (recommended) should also be treated in the same manner.  Do not place any database on a shared server.  These are cheaper options for hosting data, but you are then relying on 3rd party for security.

Establish a data fortress and update everything

Updating your software on the database allows you to prevent any potential hacks or zero-day issues. On top- of that, you want to use things like two-factor authentication, installing zero-day anti-malware solutions, and antivirus programs too. The more you focus on using those, the more you reduce data breaches. As we mentioned earlier, disconnect any peripherals like microphones or webcams, these can be used by attackers as an entry point into your system

Educate your employees

Most data breaches happen because employees don’t really know a lot about data safety. Train them in cybersecurity and data safety practices, make sure that they know how to use and customise security solutions as needed. Of course, you still need a very good, secure network infrastructure with limited access.

training employee on database security will help stop a virus

Business Database Security might not seem challenging, but when you get into it you will soon realise just how many entry points are unprotected, just like the Cloud. Use these tips and don’t hesitate to access database security services from Cream Soda Media if you want to keep all your data safe. It’s not going to be easy to stay away from data breaches.  However, if you educate your team, implement the right protective systems and limit access to your database, you will have a much easier time protecting that pivotal customer and business information

CONTACT US

For an immediate review please contact Cream Soda Multimedia on Email support@creamsodamedia.com | Office +44 (0)1276 490448

Jun 15
0
Threats from malware virus on your business

It could be you! Malware threatens your Business

By | Insights | No Comments

Do I need to invest in malware antivirus protection?  

Malware threatens business on a global persistent scale. In a recent study, the UK ranked 4th with ransomware detections. Nearly 30 billion Pounds lost due to cyber attacks in business processing. Over 32% of businesses and 22% of Charities had cyber breaches. This is actually a crisis waiting to happen for all of us.

These unexpected security breaches will hit company revenue and cyber analyst consultancy is on fire right now. Yet common thinking is that only large organisations are prime focus for malware attacks. Therefore you may ask, why does my small to medium sized business need antivirus and malware protection? You need malware antivirus protection because the real victim is small business. Security breaches mean data and communication loss, crashed system functions, exposed customer details and loss of reputation, and reduced revenue.

small business is worst hit by cyber malware attacks, they need security

Small businesses are the easy targets of the hackers. The hackers can hit more than a hundred small businesses at a time instead of intruding into a large organisation.

The UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Support published the following

In businesses that had these kinds of negative outcomes, the average (mean) cost to the business was £4,180 in 2019. This is higher than in 2018 (£3,160) and 2017 (£2,450). It indicates a broad trend of rising costs in cases where cyber attacks are able to penetrate an organisations defences

Once again, the average costs faced by larger businesses in these cases tend to be much higher (£9,270 for medium firms and £22,700 for large firms in 2019). And for charities facing such negative outcomes from breaches, the average cost was £9,470 in 2019.

However, the indirect costs, long-term costs and intangible costs of breaches – things like lost productivity or reputational damage – tend to be overlooked. This means that, when organisations reflect on their approaches to cyber security, they may be undervaluing the true cost and impact of cyber security breaches.

You may be one of those larger firms handling large sums without implementing high-end security technology in your transaction systems. Another UK study revealed that Malware threatens businesses with less than 500 employees had lost £1.8M per attack. The cyber breach drains out the sum and reputation of the company quickly.  Even those you would expect to have malware antivirus, i.e.Travelex – had to pay out $2.3M to retrieve lost information this year.  

What are the cyber security threats for my business? 

We’ve listed several Malware security threats for your business processing. It is high time for any company owner to get a clear picture of these attacks to enhance the security systems on their transaction platforms. 

The general security threats you should be aware of:

  • Malware Attacks 

The Malware attack is one of the cyber attacks common to small business. This attack occurs due to the Trojan and virus codes created by hackers to damage the data and intrude into networks. This type of attack enters into to the business IT systems through a malicious software download, unauthorised web page, spam email, or a connection with an infected system.  

Employees of small enterprises use their personal computers or persoal emails to complete the odd task. This type of work culture results in malware attacks, which change DNS settings, re-directing users’ traffic through malware servers. Most personal computers are highly prone to malware infections. 

  • Phishing Attacks 

The Phishing attack is a widely spread cyber attack in small firms. It brings a complete breach of crucial data, the cyber criminal gains access to nearly 90% of business data in no time. This type of attack occurs through fake cloned sites or emails pretending to be real, requesting sensitive data to be entered in.  Once employees open within the work email, the entire system will be unwrapped. 

employee opens an email with an embedded virus, it has infected his machine
  • Ransomware 

The next well-known cyberattack that prevails commonly among firms is Ransomware. In this kind of attack, the hackers will lock the organization’s data and force the victims to pay. The intruders unlock the data after receiving a ransom from the victims. The hackers target small firms because they are aware that there is no proper technology to back up crucial data. 

What are the risks if I get a malware attack? 

The dangers related to malware cyber-attacks in business communication systems are as follows. 

  • Data loss

Cyber attacks will unlock data access and damage the data. The virus targets the database and establishes complete control of the firm’s data in no time. Imagine losing all customer details and your entire lead generation to date.

  • Interferes with business communication 

The hackers attack the business email channel, thereby leading to complete damage. A malicious link steps into the organisation’s email platform triggering the employees to download the virus into their network of electronic devices with now virus’s on Andriod and iPhones + laptops.

  • Reduction of business revenue 

Due to Ransom attacks, the victims have to pay a large sum to unlock their important data from the hackers. It will ultimately affect the profits of that financial year. The ransom attacks marked the end of fewer small organisations worldwide. 

  • The Reputation of your Company

After a malware attack, small businesses face tough challenges to rebuild their reputation amidst the competitive environment. Cyberattacks affect the optimum functioning of the organisation in the future. Worst case the firm’s entire revenue and profit system can collapse due to 1) fines for customer data loss, 2) loss of cash flow from a pause in trading, and 3) an urgent investment in the right antivirus protection.  

  • Crashes your entire system functions 

When malware strikes a computer in an organisation, automatically the entire systems shut down in a fraction of a second. It causes complete damage to the electronic devices in a firm. An entrepreneur could be looking for technically skilled people to repair the damaged computers.

  • Interrupts the normal workflow 

Due to malicious attack, the firm faces interruption from their normal workflow. It will reflect on the profit reports on that financial year. The firm has to strive hard to resume its business processing after the virus attack. It takes nearly a year to compensate for the loss due to the suspicious activities of the hackers. The repair cost after the attack seems to be devastating and some newbie entrepreneurs disappear from the competitive market. 

How can a malware virus impact my Cloud System? 

Harnessing Cloud platforms enables you to scale your business beyond its physical hardware size. This evolution in scaleable infrastructure opens the door to configuration issues and ultimately malware threats on your business. A security risk on this Cloud system can bring drastic consequences. The hackers inject the spyware into the cloud storage of a firm and eavesdrop on the organisation’s data. The firm’s employees work on this cloud platform without this knowledge and the hacker will silently steal the data at one point in time without anyone knowing.

malware has threatened a small business database, tech team are trying to investigate

In the Cloud systems, data wipe is a common issue when there is an improper collaboration with the service providers. IT managers should review the terms and conditions of the cloud storage provider before signing into their services. Ensure the service providers have ample features to restrict anonymous entry into the storage area to avoid a data breach. 

One of the downfalls following a virus attack is the deactivation of your presence in the digital market. The data related to your company will be with-held preventing you from reaching the target customers. The owners will lose their business operation if these circumstances prevail in the long run. 

Another interesting one is the ‘Man-in-Cloud –Attack’. It’s a recent security threat under cloud storage systems. In this type of attack, the intruder hijacks the user account details easily by cloning the sync token used by the user.  This is basically a saved file which stores the user’s login details, so they don’t have to continuously log in.  The data in the cloud storage are relatively vulnerable and they are highly prone to hacking. A similar scenario occurred with Amazon and Google.

Who invites the computer virus inside my business? 

The sources of Malware attacks are closer than you think.

  • Employees invite malware virus’s unintentionally 

The Employees small-scale businesses are unaware of the Malware attacks. They do not know how to set strong passwords while working on cloud storage systems. The employees lack skills in detecting suspicious activities on their working network. Most of them are ignorant about cyber attacks.

If when travelling employees might use the public Wi-Fi network to access their firm’s portfolio without knowing the hidden dangers. The personal computers of the employees can easily have infections, which intrude into the company’s network in no time. 

Solution: Firms should offer regular seminars on recent cyber attacks for their employees. Training is necessary to educate the employees in assigning strong passwords and optimum ways to handle crucial data on cloud storage.

Create a department or point person in your firm with the title ‘Cyber Security Category Leader’ to overlook the proper functioning of the firm’s communication and transaction channel. The technical expert in this team should identify and eradicate the suspicious moves on the channel before the circumstance becomes worse. 

  • Competitors can be behind the virus. 

Cyberattacks can be initiated by competitors, especially those overseas who look at you as a threat or they wish to benchmark you in their own territory. Attacks like this are common because this is a fast way to gain knowledge on cost prices, price lists, suppliers, prototype designs, marketing plans, or next season’s year’s product launch.

Solution: Young entrepreneurs should implement security gateways to protect their small business activities from the interference of hackers. It is highly advisable to embed Email Security Gateways to protect the company documents and conversations. To overcome malware attacks you can go for ‘Endpoint Protection’ and ‘Web Security’. 

  • Hacking for Money 

Professional hackers target small firms with limited employees. These hackers learn recent techniques to crash the security systems of your firm and earn money in no time. Most hackers inject ransomware into the system to hijack data for money. 

cyber security is important to stop hackers gaining access to computers

Solution: Endpoint Detection and Response is one of the reliable security techniques to get rid of ransomware issues. Business owners must always look for recent cyber threats and acquire knowledge to implement relevant security measures on their network. 

Effective measures to prevent Malware attack

  • Latest Security Techniques 

As you all know, hackers don’t use older hacking methods to intrude, instead they figure out exciting methods to interfere with the business processes. From the hacker’s perspective, they will implement a new form of viral attack on the company’s network to stumble the smooth functioning of the enterprise. It is high time for your business to take proactive steps to get rid of the hacking methodologies. You can go to ‘Endpoint Protection’, ‘Web Security’, and ‘Email Security Gateways’ etc. All these modules protect the data from hacking thereby providing security grounds to overcome malware attack issues.

  • Educate the Employee

Business must contribute to training the employees about the cybersecurity system. Security awareness training brings tremendous changes in the employee attitude while handling vulnerable data related to the organisation. The professionals from cybersecurity should address the employees periodically to update their skills related to data protection. 

  • Organise or limit the access 

Only the admins and authorised employees should connect with the iCloud environment to work with the stored data. The firm can establish a Cloud Lock technology to accomplish complete control over it. The entrepreneurs must formulate rules and regulations to work on the computer components on the office premises. This can include denial of access to unauthorised web pages, request permission to enable or download any tool from the online platform, prohibit the entry of unnecessary pop-ups carrying malware, etc. 

  • Effective systems backup 

To overcome the consequence of ransomware attack it is highly recommended to backup all the crucial data on various forms for later retrieval. All businesses should not hesitate to spend on sophisticated backup technology to shelter against cyber attack. Backed up data is one of the proactive actions against virus attacks. 

  • Password Management 

Owners should maintain the passwords personally without any leaks. If you can manage the passwords on your own then you are free from inside threats within the business. There are chances for the employee to become ‘black sheep’ stealing data to serve your competitors. You can establish a well-structured password management system to modify and update the characters efficiently after regular intervals. 

Conclusion – the pitch part. 

Cyber-attacks have become a great threat to small-scale enterprises. It is the perfect time to acquire awareness about cybersecurity and implement it right now.

We at Cream Soda have business partnerships with scaleable global cybersecurity organisations, who can reduce the scope and cost to suit any business size.

In relation to Cloud Security we can provide you the ability to

  • Track devices and applications on the network. 
  • Identity unpatched applications and op systems.
  • See real-time and historical visibility.
  • Monitor data usage and user activity.
  • Detect unwanted and vulnerable applications.
  • Fix unprotected and rogue systems. 
  • Stop admin account abuse.
  • Satisfy compliance requirements.
  • Eliminate malware cyber threats on your business.

Go for a reliable antivirus business program, not family / soft orientated Nortons or Kaspersky, to protect your data from security threats. Educate, and empower your employees to be aware. Training programs for employees, and installing the latest Malware cybersecurity technologies are an effective strategy to fight malware attacks and maintain financial cash flow – your working capital.

CONTACT US

For an immediate review please contact Cream Soda Multimedia on Email support@creamsodamedia.com | Office +44 (0) 1276 490448