Can Your Business Survive Being Hacked?

Can Your Business Survive Being Hacked?

Find out how you should respond to being hacked.

Cybercriminals and data thieves are experts at exploiting the vulnerabilities of notebooks and tablets. Data breaches and intrusions reported by businesses of all sizes are at an all time high. Could your company recover from identity theft, stolen competitive information, or compromised customer data?

Investigate and verify the attack

It’s important to have an incident response team in place that can immediately swing into action following a cyberattack. Quick response is the key to limiting damages. According to a Ponemon Institute study, leveraging an incident response team was the single biggest factor associated with reducing the cost of a data breach — saving companies nearly $400,000 on average. Here are the first, critical steps your team should take:

  • Identify the compromised systems
  • Investigate IP addresses used in the attack
  • Determine the type of attack, e.g., virus, malware, unauthorized access, etc.

Once you know the details of the threat or vulnerability, you can immediately warn other users on the network and inform them what type of attack to look for and how to avoid it.

Mitigate and isolate the damage

Don’t panic and shut down your entire network, disrupting your business operations and risking missed deadlines, angry customers, and damage to your company reputation. Instead, get busy isolating and mitigating damage to affected systems.

Don’t hesitate to notify customers and stakeholders of the attack. It’s better to admit to a data breach up front rather than keep the attack a secret. Should news get out that you’ve tried to hide or cover up a security breach, your company’s integrity could take a big hit.

Quarantine all infected computers or impacted applications on the network. By isolating affected systems, you can contain the damage and prevent any virus or malware from spreading. Your incident response team should also look for backdoors that hackers may have set up to get into your system in the future. If vendors, customers, or suppliers have been hacked, block all access from these accounts until security issues have been resolved.

Plug the holes, spread the word

Change company-wide passwords for access to any systems that were affected, and install clean data and software backups, preferably from off-site devices not connected to your network. Make sure there are no default “admin” or other obvious usernames and passwords in place that could allow hackers back in. Then, spread the word: Take steps to ensure all employees are trained in basic cybersecurity procedures and policies, such as keeping passwords secure, not sharing personal information, and avoiding emailed links and downloads.

Get the best protection for endpoint devices

By now, you’ve probably figured out that the best way to survive a data breach is not to have one. Endpoint devices have become the latest target, and attacks against notebooks and desktops increased by 132 percent in 2016 alone. That’s why it’s essential to strengthen endpoint security by replacing old, outdated, or insecure devices with notebooks and tablets equipped with multiple levels of protection to help secure your company’s valuable data assets.

About the Author

Jerry Young is the Principal Solution Architect at MNJ Technologies.

Featured

  • Trends Keeping an Eye on Business Decisions

    Today, AI continues to transform the way data is used to make important business decisions. AI and the cloud together are redefining how video surveillance systems are being used to simulate human intelligence by combining data analysis, prediction, and process automation with minimal human intervention. Many organizations are upgrading their surveillance systems to reap the benefits of technologies like AI and cloud applications. Read Now

  • The Future is Happening Outside the Cloud

    For years, the cloud has captivated the physical security industry. And for good reason. Remote access, elastic scalability and simplified maintenance reshaped how we think about deploying and managing systems. But as the number of cameras grows and resolutions push from HD to 4K and beyond, the cloud’s limits are becoming unavoidable. Bandwidth bottlenecks. Latency lags. Rising storage costs. These are not abstract concerns. Read Now

  • The Impact of Convergence Between IT and Physical Security

    For years, the worlds of physical security and information technology (IT) remained separate. While they shared common goals and interests, they often worked in silos. Read Now

  • Unlocking Trustworthy AI: Building Transparency in Security Governance

    In situations where AI supports important security tasks like leading investigations and detecting threats and anomalies, transparency is essential. When an incident occurs, investigators must trace the logic behind each automated response to confirm its validity or spot errors. Demanding interpretable AI turns opaque “black boxes” into accountable partners that enhance, rather than compromise, organizational defense. Read Now

  • Seeking Innovative Solutions

    Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. You may recognize these terms as the “5 Phases” of a grieving process, but they could easily describe the phases one goes through before adopting any new or emerging innovation or technology, especially in a highly risk-averse industry like security. However, the desire for convenience in all aspects of modern life is finally beginning to turn the tide from old school hardware as the go-to towards more user-friendly, yet still secure, door solutions. Read Now

New Products

  • A8V MIND

    A8V MIND

    Hexagon’s Geosystems presents a portable version of its Accur8vision detection system. A rugged all-in-one solution, the A8V MIND (Mobile Intrusion Detection) is designed to provide flexible protection of critical outdoor infrastructure and objects. Hexagon’s Accur8vision is a volumetric detection system that employs LiDAR technology to safeguard entire areas. Whenever it detects movement in a specified zone, it automatically differentiates a threat from a nonthreat, and immediately notifies security staff if necessary. Person detection is carried out within a radius of 80 meters from this device. Connected remotely via a portable computer device, it enables remote surveillance and does not depend on security staff patrolling the area.

  • 4K Video Decoder

    3xLOGIC’s VH-DECODER-4K is perfect for use in organizations of all sizes in diverse vertical sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality, education and commercial premises.

  • Unified VMS

    AxxonSoft introduces version 2.0 of the Axxon One VMS. The new release features integrations with various physical security systems, making Axxon One a unified VMS. Other enhancements include new AI video analytics and intelligent search functions, hardened cybersecurity, usability and performance improvements, and expanded cloud capabilities