Security of Organization’s IT Platforms

Information Technology (IT) has been one reason for India’s progress in liberalization and futuristic advancement in terms of economy, technology, and employment. The IT sector is one of the leading industries in India. The Next-gen technologies have been a life-saver, and they have been training the organizations all over, to get future-ready! Concepts like Machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Blockchain technology help the visualization of digital transformation for the country. Along with the digital transformation, there is a rise in cyber attacks, ransomware. The security of an organization’s IT platform is a major concern of most of the companies around the world.

Information technology has brought a collaboration of multiple concepts, to increase the value-centric activities, and simplify the operations in a complex environment that requires bold decision making, and instinctive judgments.

Safety factors to be conscious of for the betterment of Internet technology

With the progress in Information Technology, there has also been an increase in security threats. Cyber threats, malicious viruses, software vulnerabilities, Increasing hackers, careless employees, are increasing too, a weak firewall that should be consciously taken care of before they invade your corporate spaces.

Uncleaned viruses have the capacity enough to clear off an entire hard drive in seconds. One has to be always careful with regular scanning of the systems and back-up sources in order to be safe from the malicious factors. There are hackers all over hawking at your application, waiting for the smallest chance to invade and corrupt the entire system. A valued secure network should always keep hackers in mind, and be vigilant enough to ward them away.

The employees as well the management should always be mindful of what they are clicking and entering into, as careless navigation into unnecessary pages might welcome trouble to the organization’s base systems with the utmost ease.

The company could organize special safety management boot camps to train the employees on the necessary safety measures and limitations. Making the employees undergo safety management training courses and modules can be an additional try to enlighten them on the needed cautions, for effective working.

What is a firewall and why is it important?

A firewall is a network security software or hardware that monitors the incoming and outgoing network data traffic based on a defined set of security rules and criteria. The firewall acts as a barrier between secured and controlled internal networks and traffic from unauthorized networks like the internet to prevent malicious traffic in the form of masked hackers and viruses.

Firewalls can be implemented either as hardware or software or both the combination. Over 25 years, firewalls acted as a first-line defense in network security.

The firewalls control traffic by mediums such as,

● Packet filtering, where the data packets are analyzed and distributed according to the filter’s standards.

● Proxy service, which is set up on the application layer of the firewall and sent to the requesting system.

● Stateful inspection by which the firewall is configured to distinguish between legitimate packets and report to a database of reliable information.

Importance of firewalls

There are certain aspects of Firewalls that are needed to be understood.

● A Firewall protects your personalized computer or laptop from unauthorized remote access.

● Firewalls can block data packets linking to unwanted content

● It makes online gaming safer and free from malicious traffic

● You can also block immoral or unwanted content on your firewall

Firewalls are one of an important security measure that protects your computer from cybercriminals and hackers who are active over internet hacking and are waiting to tamper with the features of your organization’s systems.

How to secure a firewall?

If an attacker can attack your firewall, then it depicts ” game over” for your network security and organization data. To secure the firewall, one can try doing the following steps.

1. Update your firewall to the latest firmware – To weed out any vulnerabilities, incorporate the services of a firewall security vendor.

2. Verify rule efficiency – Firewalls are configured to operate on a set of rules that allow traffic in and out. Make sure to update the rule set regularly and all current rules are still relevant and efficient.

3. Monitor security – Ensure if the firewall remains updated with regular vulnerability checkups and firewall reviews. Take a step ahead to monitor firewall events proactively and this helps you take action when the attacks happen and if a breach occurred.

4. Increase Password Complexity – Make sure to use only secure and complex passwords and delete, rename, or disable any default user accounts and change all default passwords.

5. Balance access – If a firewall is shared between multiple administrative, create a new administrator account with limited privileges based on positions, and never share accounts.

6. Configure SNMP – Configure SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) for a secure community string and disable it.

7. Regular Updates – Update your firewall to the latest firmware

Conclusion

Cybercriminals actively looking for any vulnerability to get access to organization networks, and data. It is very important to take active security measures to keep the organization’s data and network secure. With the above information, Securing your organization’s platforms and roots shouldn’t be difficult.