Every day literally millions of attacks are launched at American companies via the internet. The vast majority of these attacks are malicious and they intend to accomplish one ultimate goal. A data security breach. So lets for a second understand the difference between an attack and a breach this is critical so we can understand the threat landscape that you are currently living in. When a bad guy or as folks in the community like to call them, a black hat. Wants to get something from the big rich United States, for instance, let’s say they are farming for valid credit card numbers.
They will launch a series of attacks, some are called Phishing attacks, others are scans, worms, malware, or viruses. These attacks are intended to find an opening a hole or vulnerability. Once that is found then they proceed to exploit it. When they do that they are now inside of your company network, and you have been breached.
They Now Own You
I don’t know about you. But I do not want anyone owning me. And I understand the feeling, just look at the previous blog post on here and you will see what an ordeal it can be. And that example was just for one person. Imagine what happens when they create a breach company-wide. It is not where you want to be. So what’s important to understand is yes you are going to experience attacks and if your security posture is properly set up. You have the correct security policies in place. Your technical people, as well as your management, are properly trained on how to keep a secure posture. And you keep it updated and tested on a regular basis. Management makes security a priority. Then most likely you will not be breached. You will fend off attacks a majority of the time without even knowing it.
A Living Organism
A corporation is a living breathing organization. It is fed, it uses resources, it expels waste, it grows and it shrinks based on environmental as well as internal factors. And just like the body. It is always being attacked; we encounter germs, viruses, bacteria, and even full blown diseases every day in our travels through this not so safe world. And most of the time you do not know it. But your body is fending these attacks off. You have an immune system that runs on automatic. If you stay healthy and keep exercising, regular health care, the right foods and limit the bad things.
Your system will normally stay strong and repel these attacks. But if you don’t, that is when an attack becomes a breach and then you get sick sometimes seriously sick. You have to intervene at a higher level at great cost and time. I’m sure you can see where I am heading with this. Your security posture is no different. Keep your security healthy, stay on the offensive with an active defense, and your chances of getting sick a full blown security breach go way down. We have enough to worry about without having to allow something bad to happen that could have been avoided with some effective prevention.