Every year, businesses incur substantial losses of money, customers, and reputation due to cyber-attacks. Data and infrastructure security have always been a major concern for all businesses and now, with IT systems moving to cloud platforms, they have taken center stage on all IT agendas.
It’s important to know that hindsight is 20/20, but when it comes to cybersecurity in 2020, foresight is crucial. Companies that haven’t been able to protect their network have run into a lot of loss. It’s no more news that the global pandemic has increased the need for more employees to work from home. The flip side, however, is that there’s also been an increase in the number of malicious threats to network defenses all around the globe.
Hackers have pounced on the pandemic situation to unleash a wave of cyber-attacks, thereby increasing the risks that businesses are exposed to. It’s therefore essential to equip your business with the knowledge of data center security threats and all that encompasses cybersecurity.
What Is Data Center Security?
It’s important to know that the data center accommodates the crown jewels of confidential data. This means, when there is a cyber-attack, the personal information of both customers and the company’s financial statements become exposed.
Data center security, however, refers to the physical practices and virtual technologies used to protect a data center from external threats and attacks. A data center is a facility that stores IT infrastructure, composed of network computers and storage used to organize, process, and store large amounts of data. Due to the great significance of data centers, and the sensitive information they hold, sites have to be digitally and physically secured.
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Types Of Data Center Security
As a result of the complexities surrounding data center security issues, security components should be considered separately, but needs to follow one holistic security policy. Mostly, security can be divided into physical and software security. Physical security encompasses a wide range of strategies used to prevent outside interference. Software security prevents cyber-criminals from entering the network by bypassing the firewall, cracking passwords, or through loopholes.
However, our attention here is fixed on software security. Hacking, malware, and spyware are data center security threats and vulnerabilities. A security information and event management tool (SIEM) offers a real-time view of a data center’s security posture. Before applications are deployed, certain tools may be used to scan them for vulnerabilities that can be easily exploited, and then provide metrics and remediation capabilities.
With the rise of cloud computing, visibility into data flows is a necessity, since there could be malware hiding inside of otherwise legitimate traffic.
Who Needs Data Center Security?
Data is essential to running a business today. To ensure development, there’ is a need to keep information safe and minimize the risk of potential threats that could result in loss of money and reputation.
Every data center needs some form of security to ensure its continued use. Some aspects of “security” are actually made up of uptime features, such as multiple power sources, multiple environment control, and more. Data center outsourcing is a good solution if you want to make sure your data is stored according to the best standards and secured on every level.
Data center cybersecurity is very essential for any firm that houses confidential information in their data centers. There has to be a consideration from organizations that leveraged on data centers either directly or through a partner, to proffer solutions to the high rate of cyber-attacks.
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Cybersecurity Predictions For 2020
When cybersecurity is involved, rather than react to threats, it’s better to stay ahead of them. In 2020, since the use of data has increased due to the global pandemic, new cyber-threats have become prevalent, specifically in the world of cybersecurity.
Nonetheless, data center security is ultimately aimed at keeping the hosted data safe. This includes comprehensive measures such as complete data backup and recovery, enforcing the latest data privacy regulations, and comprehensive monitoring and traffic.
Cybersecurity Threats To Watch Out For In 2020
Having emphasized on the excessive use of data in 2020, cyber-attackers are constantly looking for new strategies to defraud companies. Most of their strategies linger around the frequent threats to an organization’s cybersecurity.
However, as you read further, most of these threats will be disclosed. The knowledge of data centre security threats broadens your knowledge concerning steps to take to prevent security issues. The following are widespread threats of cybersecurity:
Phishing Engineering Attacks
In the past few years, there’s been an enormous amount of phishing attacks against all kinds of targets. Phishing attacks are social engineering attacks where the cyber-attacker generates a fraudulent text, email, or website to mislead a victim into releasing sensitive information — which could involve login credentials for work, credit card details, or passwords to online accounts.
A phishing attack is one of the most dangerous cyber-attacks, as it can be used to deceive an employee to give up legitimate credentials and then use the privilege to wreck the company’s system.
Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that’s designed to withhold access to an organization’s computer system until a sum of money is paid. These attacks generally involve the attacker infecting an organization’s data center with a piece of malware that encrypts all of their data. In 2020, ransomware attacks are more rampant than ever before. Organizations are being targeted more than private citizens due to the fact that they have money and motivation to pay ransoms.
IoT-Based Attacks
The use of smart devices in homes and organizations has increased this year. Employees are allowed to work from home. The challenge is that not all of the smart devices have strong security installed, thereby creating openings for cyber-attackers to hijack these devices to infiltrate business networks. This attack leverages a victim’s use of internet-connected devices to sneak malware onto a network.
Internal Attacks
The biggest cybersecurity threat that an organization can be faced with is their own employees cyber-attacking their data center. Some employees can abuse the access they have been given to inflict harm on the organization’s network, for their personal gain. Whether intentionally or by unwitting accidents, internal attacks remain the biggest risk to watch out for every year because they have an enormous potential to cause damage.
Unpatched Security Vulnerabilities and Bugs
This is an unintentional programming glitch in computer software or operating system that cyber-attackers can use to illicitly access systems. In most cases, these flaws may not arise from a single operating system, but from interactions from two or more different programs, making it difficult to predict when a bug will appear.
How To Curb These Attacks
Even as recent data breaches indicate that businesses are at a high risk of cyber-attacks at any given time, there’s a relief that these attacks can be curbed. Here are few tips that can be useful in restraining cyber-attacks on a data center security:
Secure your hardware
Most companies only concentrate on the protection of their software, without giving attention to the security of their hardware. As this is overlooked, the company tends to lose its devices to theft and this only makes it easy for confidential information to be manipulated.
Encrypt and backup data
Companies can prevent access to sensitive data through concealing information by means of a code. Data encryption remains the “‘most efficient fix”’ for data breaches if they occur. This helps to keep sensitive information, including customers’ and employees’ information, as well as all business data.
Create a security-focused workplace culture
Since we have explained earlier that employees can be a common cause of data breaches, intentionally or unintentionally, there’ll be a need to make employees have a good understanding of the daily actions that leave a company vulnerable to a cyber-attack. Organizations should ensure sufficient security training and education for members of staff.
Invest in cybersecurity insurance
As cyber-criminals work tirelessly to find advanced ways of breaching security defenses, it is advisable for companies to minimize risk by seeking a cybersecurity expert’s help to select the best type of insurance for your company, based on your risk of attack and the financial impact of such an event.
Benefits Of Cybersecurity
Today, securing the data center has never been more important. The best cybersecurity firm helps to prevent attacks from taking effects and ensures that your company’s data remains confidential. The benefits of cybersecurity cannot be overemphasized. Here are a few benefits of cybersecurity:
1. Protection of your business
Cybersecurity solution provides digital protection to your business, this ensures that your information isn’t at a risk from potential threats.
2. Increased productivity
Data center security issues slow down production capability and this can stop employees from carrying out their jobs effectively. Once cybersecurity issues are taken care of, employees will be able to work effectively.
3. Inspire confidence in your customers
Once you have proven that your business is effectively protected against all kinds of cyber-attacks, this makes customers more confident in using your services.
4. Protection of your customers
Ensuring that your business is secure from data center security threats, helps to protect your customers, who could be susceptible to a cyber breach by proxy.
Closing Thoughts
Data centers hold sensitive information of companies, therefore, there’s a need to keep them secure. RSI Security’s data center security services help to protect your data center and ensure your organization stays ahead of malicious actors by providing the knowledge needed to respond to security breaches. Our experts ensure that your organization’s confidential information is safe, without overwhelming your company’s internal IT department.
Let RSI Security help you develop a more secure data center architecture that will keep your crown jewels safe. We help you limit the damage that cybercriminals have caused your company in the past and prevent similar events from reoccurring. With RSI Security’s data center security, you can be assured that there’ll be the prevention of cybercriminals from having access to your defenses.