What Hackers Don't Want You To Know

By Rob Harbin, VP/Senior Technology Strategiest
Micro Visions, Inc.

Turn on the television, on any day, and you are likely to hear about some new computer security threat, identity theft attack, or virus. In fact, thousands of networks are hacked every day, and large corporations are not the only victims. Every business, large or small, is a target for an attack. All it takes is one hacker to cause catastrophic damage to your business. Fortunately, you don’t have to have a master’s degree in computer security to begin protecting your vital business information.

A bit of education about what hackers do not want you to know is all it takes to prevent the most common attacks. To the delight of hackers, however, most businesses unknowingly leave their private information exposed to the world.

They can see you but you can’t see them. Hackers don’t want you to know that your corporate network may be a lot more like a public network than a private network. They know that LAN technology is built upon the concept of a shared medium. That means that it is possible for them to eavesdrop on what is presumed to be private data exchanges in order to obtain useful information to further their attacks. That confidential email you just sent could easily be intercepted and altered on the way to its recipient.

Anybody with a computer can do it. Hackers don’t want you to know that hacking is relatively easy. Hacking tools are freely available for download to anybody on the web. Any junior high school student with a little curiosity is a prime candidate for gaining access to your network. They may have no intention of doing harm, but once the information is out it can be swept into the hands of mischievous wrongdoers.

Most businesses buy into common myths. Hackers don’t want you to know that they understand the common security myths. A large majority of business owners and even IT staff make statements such as:

“I have virus protection so I am secure.” Viruses and hackers both can endanger your business, but are completely two different things. Hackers can break a window and gain access to your corporate network. Virus protection won’t protect against physical access to your system.
"I have a firewall so I don’t need to worry about security threats.” Firewalls are a great front line defense, but many are misconfigured or installed with default passwords.
“Nobody wants to target my business.” Hackers don’t generally target individual businesses; they scan thousands of computers looking for anybody who is vulnerable. Most hackers will follow the path of least resistance and access networks with little or no defense. For this reason adopting a proactive approach to your network security can go a long way in helping to prevent prying eyes on your corporate data. A combination of appropriate caution, smart practices and good technology is necessary to protect your business from hackers.

Here is a simple list of best practices to get started:

Educate your employees about hackers. Hackers don’t just work via computers; in some cases they use a telephone with some type of ruse to extract a password or code from an unsuspecting employee.
Understand that email is not secure and never 100% reliable. Don’t send confidential email if other means of secure communication are available.
Make sure you have a firewall with secure passwords.
Make sure you have a good antivirus that is updating on a daily basis.
Apply appropriate security patches to your applications and operating systems.
Change your passwords at least every 90 days.
Investigate encryption technology, VPN, etc.
Backup your system regularly.

Protect your business. Hackers don’t want you to know that their methods are rather commonly understood. We understand them. Micro Visions, Inc. has a long history of auditing networks and implementing solutions to monitor and secure small and large businesses alike. From basic firewall implementations to extensive HIPAA compliance readiness, we have a solution for you. Contact us today at 616-776-0400!

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