Think about how many different websites you access on a typical work day. Let’s assume you visit an average of 100. Now, multiply this among all of the other employees in your organization, and we can assume that your business is accessing thousands of pages every day.
You can bet your bottom dollar that a significant portion of these websites are unsafe, and could be exposing your business to harmful third party threats.
Are you still unconvinced? Consider this:
Research shows that 46 percent of the Internet’s top 1 million websites are risky.
Of the 1 million websites that were studied, 355,804 were discovered to be either running vulnerable software or utilizing background domains with vulnerable software. 166,853 were placed in “bad” categories. 31,938 experienced a recent security incident.
What’s more, the study shows that background requests sending content to Web browsers surpassed user requests at a rate of 25:1.
Unfortunately, there is little you can do to reduce the number of online threats that are facing your business. They could be lurking anywhere — in email attachments, pop-up advertisements and behind gated content assets that appear to be safe. Censoring your network and blocking suspicious domains from your employees would be pointless, because there is no true way of telling which websites contain security vulnerabilities. In fact, some of your most commonly-visited “safe for work” websites — or major media outlets that transmit news, sports and online video — are insecure. And even a website that passes a basic URL scan could still conceal harmful content.
While it’s almost impossible to avoid being targeted by malicious software online, you can shield your business from it. This will not be easy. It will require making network security a top priority in your organization. But in doing so, you may be able avoid experiencing a security incident.
This will require:
- Constant vigilance with 24/7/365 network monitoring
- Deep network forensics
- Regular security audits
- Vulnerability testing
You’ll also need to educate your employees about how to stay safe online. End users need to understand that the decisions they make online will play a major part in the overall security of your organization. Engaging in risky behavior like clicking on random advertisements, downloading files from unknown sources, using weak passwords and failing to lock devices will put your businesses directly in harm’s way.
As you can see, staying safe online requires adopting a cybersecurity strategy that is both multi-faceted, and one that is constantly evolving along with the changing threat landscape. A managed services provider (MSP) like Apex Technology Services of Norwalk, Connecticut can help you build a dynamic cybersecurity strategy that is unique for your business. You will also gain access to the cutting-edge cybersecurity tools you need to stay safe online.
So don’t wait for a hack or data breach to start protecting or organization. Contact Apex Technology Services today to discuss how your business can benefit from the protection of a leading MSP.
For more information about Apex Technology Services, click here.
A new breed of hacktrepeneurs has awoken and they have little to fear and everything to gain by infecting as many companies as possible and extorting money from them. Apex Technology Services stands ready to protect your company regardless of whether it’s located in New York City; White Plains, New York; Connecticut; Australia; Europe; or anywhere else. Our full suite of cybersecurity and IT support services is at your disposal, enabling you to spend less time worrying about and more time growing your business.
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