Antivirus software has long been one of the most recognizable forms of cybersecurity protection. It remains an important tool, but installing antivirus software does not create a complete cybersecurity strategy.
Businesses now depend on email, cloud applications, remote access, mobile devices, online accounts and interconnected systems. Cybercriminals can target any of those areas, often using stolen credentials or deceptive messages rather than traditional computer viruses.
Strong cybersecurity requires multiple layers of protection working together across your people, processes and technology.
Antivirus Addresses Only Part of the Risk
Traditional antivirus software is designed to identify and block known malicious files. Modern endpoint protection may also analyze behavior, detect suspicious activity and help isolate an affected device.
Those protections can reduce risk, but they cannot address every way an attacker may attempt to access an organization.
Antivirus software may not stop an employee from entering a password into a convincing fake login page. It cannot independently verify an unusual payment request, correct an unpatched vulnerability, manage access permissions or restore critical information after a disruption.
The question is not whether antivirus software is useful. The question is what other safeguards are supporting it.
Prepare Your Employees
Many cyberattacks begin by targeting a person.
Phishing and social-engineering attacks attempt to persuade employees to reveal information, open a harmful attachment, approve a payment or provide access to a system. These messages can appear to come from trusted colleagues, leaders, vendors or service providers.
Ongoing cybersecurity awareness training helps employees recognize suspicious activity, verify unusual requests and report potential threats.
Employees should also know exactly where to report a suspicious message or unexpected system behavior. Quick reporting can give an IT or security team more time to investigate and respond.
Protect Accounts and Identities
A stolen password can allow an attacker to access email, cloud applications and business information without installing malware on a device.
Multi-factor authentication adds another step to the login process. Even if a password is compromised, the additional verification requirement can make unauthorized access more difficult.
Organizations should also consider:
- Requiring strong, unique passwords
- Using an approved password manager
- Removing accounts that are no longer needed
- Reviewing administrative privileges
- Limiting access based on job responsibilities
- Requiring additional verification for sensitive account changes
Identity protection is especially important as more business applications and information are accessed through cloud-based services.
Strengthen Email Security
Email remains a common starting point for phishing, malware and business email compromise.
Email security tools can help filter malicious attachments, suspicious links and fraudulent messages before they reach an employee’s inbox. Appropriate email authentication and configuration can also make it more difficult for someone to impersonate an organization’s domain.
Technology cannot identify every deceptive message, particularly when a request comes from an account that has already been compromised. Email security should be combined with employee training and clearly defined verification procedures.
Keep Systems Updated
Software updates often correct security vulnerabilities that could otherwise be used to access a device or system.
Businesses should maintain a process for identifying the devices, applications and network equipment they use, monitoring available updates and applying them in a timely manner.
Updates should not depend entirely on individual employees remembering to install them. Centralized management can provide greater visibility and consistency across business systems.
Organizations should also replace unsupported software and devices that no longer receive security updates.
Monitor for Suspicious Activity
Preventive safeguards are important, but no organization should assume that every threat will be blocked.
Security monitoring helps identify unusual activity that may require investigation. This could include unexpected login attempts, changes to accounts, suspicious network traffic or activity occurring at unusual times.
Effective monitoring requires more than collecting alerts. Someone must review the information, determine what it means and take appropriate action.
The ability to detect and respond to suspicious activity can reduce the time an attacker remains undetected within an organization.
Protect and Test Your Backups
Backups provide an important recovery option after ransomware, equipment failure, accidental deletion or another disruption.
Businesses should identify which information and systems must be backed up, how frequently backups should occur and how long the information should be retained.
Backups should also be protected from the same accounts and systems they are intended to recover. If an attacker can access and delete the primary data and its backups, recovery may become much more difficult.
Regular recovery testing confirms that the organization can access its backups and restore the information it needs. A successful backup notification does not always prove that the data can be recovered correctly.
Prepare to Respond and Recover
A strong cybersecurity strategy also addresses what happens when an incident occurs.
An incident-response plan should define:
- Who receives reports of suspicious activity
- Who has authority to make critical decisions
- Which systems receive priority
- How affected systems may be isolated
- How employees and outside stakeholders will receive information
- Which cybersecurity, legal and insurance resources should be contacted
- How restoration decisions will be made
Practicing the plan through a tabletop exercise can identify missing information, unclear responsibilities and unrealistic assumptions before an actual incident.
Bring the Layers Together
Cybersecurity is most effective when its individual safeguards support one another.
Employee training helps people recognize threats. Identity controls make stolen passwords less useful. Email and endpoint protection can block suspicious activity. Updates address known vulnerabilities. Monitoring helps identify problems that get through. Tested backups and response planning support recovery.
No single product performs all of those functions.
Citynet helps organizations bring these layers together through cybersecurity awareness training, email and endpoint security, monitoring, backup and recovery solutions, incident-response planning, and a comprehensive range of managed cybersecurity services.
Visit citynet.net/security to learn how Citynet can help strengthen your organization’s cybersecurity strategy.
