You’ve installed an appropriate antivirus software, you’ve established a strong firewall, and you update both regularly… You’re done with network security, right? Everything is secure?
Well, not exactly. Yes, a firewall and antivirus software are both extremely important components of an overall strong network security protocol, but you can’t rely solely upon those to keep your machines and data safe. Here’s why: While they both protect against a number of threats, they work kind of like a lock on a door. It’s good to have locks on your doors, but if someone willingly opens that door to a threat, the locks are not enough protection.
That person opening the door might be an unknowing employee who simply clicks a link in a phishing email. That’s all it takes to allow a potential threat into your computer system. So, what do you do about that type of threat?
Implement a protocol called “least privilege”. This means that each employee is issued access only to the databases or programs that they need to effectively perform their jobs.
For example, let’s assume a fictional employee named Sarah is hired to perform data entry tasks. Sarah would need access to several specific databases, but probably not much else. There is no need to allow her access to any other systems. If a virus or malware does manage to infect her computer, then the attack will be limited to the databases to which she is allowed access.
Without these limits on Sarah’s access privileges, that same virus or malware could spread throughout every program or database used by your company.
So to answer our original question, firewalls and antivirus programs are extremely important. But you can’t solely rely upon them to protect against every type of threat. For more information on protocol like least privilege, and other measures you can take to secure your network, call us at 888-RING-MY-TECH. We can review your daily operational procedures and make security recommendations geared specifically to your business.
