There are computer network breaches every day. Hackers broke into computer systems and exposed nearly 800 million personal records in 2016 alone. Keeping your systems up to date and secure is critical for your business and your customer’s sensitive data. Even with a secure hosting facility and firewall systems at a hosting provider like Rack Alley, it all comes down to the security of your applications. A significant portion of security breaches are avoidable with some simple procedures. Here are a few that every organization should implement:
Default credentials
A recent hack at a high profile organization was down to one simple mistake. The network administrator did not change the default username and password of a device in a satellite office. Hackers probe every node of a network and then try the default username and password. Changing all passwords to something other than the default would have a hundred million the hassle of exposing their personal information.
Security scans
Hackers and security researchers discover new software vulnerabilities every day. The most effective way to keep up is to run regular scans of the network and applications. There are free and paid versions of the scanners, and the result is a list of vulnerabilities and mitigation details. Even if you do not update systems regularly, security scans will highlight urgent updates.
Change management
Often, there are changes made to systems that never result in any documentation. Forcing all changes to go through a change management process that involves approval will ensure that no change slips through the cracks. Sometimes such changes create an opening in applications that hackers can use to enter the system.
These simple steps apply to all forms of hosting, whether it is LA web hosting, colocation, or server hosting.