Enterprises Will Continue To Encounter Cyber Attacks

There is going to be no end to cyber attacks, ever. Until computers die, of course. And will they ever die?

Cyber criminals a.k.a hackers will target enterprises, businesses, and individuals with malware so as to access and gain control of the system and data, hold the systems/devices to ransom, steal private information, compromise IT communication, and sell the stolen information. Though the primary intent in many cases is financial gain, hackers also do it for recognition, personal satisfaction or for a grievance or cause.

Enterprises are targeted more frequently, as the gain is substantially more than breaching user accounts and data. Enterprises can't sit idle without taking adequate security measures for endpoint protection. But, the question is "What is the adequate security?"

Many businesses are still using traditional malware and threat prevention tool. And when they face a new threat or become wary of a new threat they get an addon detection software for addressing that particular threat. This sort of measures is not recommended for the long term.

Enterprises have upgraded their security measures and have planned mitigation strategies in the event of a cyber security breach or incident. They have strategies to quickly detect such incidents, and quarantine or isolate infected endpoints and network, so as to protect the remaining network and endpoint systems. This is a segmented network strategy being employed by many IT security administrators.

These detection strategies work in tandem with the existing IT security infrastructure. It is not effective when it is used as a standalone security product. Many times the cyber security products are not effective enough to prevent attacks. It is only after infection and subsequent detection that enterprises wake up to the fact that they have been infected. In some cases, the hackers have been able to successfully remain unnoticed in the enterprise server for months or years together, silently and unobtrusively observe, compromise, steal and send the data to a command and control server.

A significant advance is employing advanced analytics to analyze the attacks and using the information gained to prevent future attacks. The famous honeypot that had been used as a diversionary tactic is making its comeback as it had proven its worth in preventing breaches. Some IT security administrators also employ a decoy network that functions as a virtual network. This prevents access to the actual network and data. The decoy network is also termed as a virtual network. Some enterprises are also subscribing to the services of Managed Service Providers who provide security solutions and intrusion detection services.

Having a layered defense with prevention and detection tools is a recommended strategy of cyber security experts. An endpoint security management that treats all unknown applications and files with suspicion would be a better bet.