Cisco: When it Comes to Network Security, Your Best Defense is Security Everywhere!

New troubling cyberattacks are in the news almost daily. No one is immune. Have you checked your credit score lately? I just finished freezing mine. A national credit bureau breach is the latest wide-ranging theft of data to hit the news.

You are probably wondering: “Is my network secure and what would happen if we were infiltrated?” When I heard news of WannaCry ransomware blanketing all forms of mainstream media on May 12th, heck, as a security professional, even I was worried about losing all of the financial and personal data stored on my home network. When hackers weaponized seemingly innocuous IP cameras with the Mirai botnet, we were all alerted to the growing number of seemingly safe devices ingenious cyber terrorists can exploit. And to top it all off, a new type of threat has emerged: destruction of service (DeOS) attacks. No longer are criminals just trying to extort Bitcoins, they are selling their services to literally ruin targeted systems, potentially for paid industrial espionage or to further political ideals. The Nyetya attack was a highly publicized example of DeOS. Utilizing unpatched Microsoft vulnerabilities, criminals infiltrated systems to render them unusable, with no intention of collecting ransom or restoring data.

Multilayered, Architectural Approach to Network Security

Trying to protect your network from all manner of creative malware is a never-ending battle. Each new attack finds new vulnerabilities or gullible web-surfers to exploit. Not only do you want to avoid paying a ransom, but you could potentially lose your entire business infrastructure. When you add the latest security miracle cure to your infrastructure only to compound management complexity without improving protection, it is time for a new approach. New attack vectors are constantly being innovated by those in the business of cybercrime. Patching together solutions is no longer enough. To stay ahead of the bad guys, you need a multilayered, architectural approach to security that will not only block known threats and malware from entering your network, but a comprehensive solution that quickly identifies and contains unknown threats that sneak in when unsuspecting employees click on a phishing email or attachment they shouldn’t have…

Read the entire article here, When it Comes to Network Security, Your Best Defense is Security Everywhere!

Via the fine folks at Cisco Systems.