Securing your computer and network requires a layered approach to properly protect your business. The 3 necessary areas that need to be protected are access to internet resources, internet gateway, workstations, and network devices. The layered approach provides end-to-end protection. No one security application secures all the possible entry points cybercriminals may use to gain access to your computer and network.
“You can never protect yourself 100%. What you do is protect yourself as much as possible and mitigate risk to an acceptable degree. You can never remove all risk.”
Kevin Mitnick
Avoid Compromised Websites
Block Malicious Files
Antivirus and Malware Protection
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Avoid Compromised Websites
Stop your devices from attempting to connect to malicious resources on the internet. DNS filtering is used to block content from the internet before your devices connect to the resource. Often DNS filtering is associated with content filtering to block users from accessing websites based on categories and monitoring. However, it is also used to block devices from connecting to malicious websites. This prevents new threats from ever having a chance to connect to your computer and blocks compromised devices from contacting home.
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Block Malicious Files
Catch malicious documents before they are downloaded to your computer and devices using a Unified Threat Management (UTM) device. UTM devices are connected between your network and the internet. They provide multiple security services that include but are not limited to botnet filtering, content filtering, country filtering, SSL inspection, and intrusion detection. These services and more help prevent cybercriminals from gaining access to your network and computer systems.
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Antivirus and Malware Protection
Often your antivirus and antimalware are your first line of defense to protect your computer from cybercriminals. Although similar, antivirus and antimalware complement each other to protect your computer from malicious software and websites.
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Conclusion
There is no such thing as a safe space in cyberspace. Even popular websites and applications are not immune to being compromised by cybercriminals. Unlike the early days of cybercrime, criminals often lurk in the background gathering sensitive data and attempt to avoid detection. Once a system is compromised criminals use a variety of tools to gather information such as keyloggers to steal usernames, passwords, credit card information; take screenshots of the websites you are visiting; launch cyberattacks from your computer; encrypt all your data, and much more.
