The Top 5 Threats to a Company's Security System

Certainly, the security issue takes the sleep of any entrepreneur, especially when it is related to access to the network that contains all the data, stories, information, that is, the entire life and business plan of a company. For this reason, organizations have been tracking and studying the main threats in relation to the security of their data. And in these studies, the worst threats that a company can suffer when it allows access without authentication on the network are evident. 

While the list of security concerns may seem endless, there are actually five types of primary threats that all businesses need to be concerned about: malware, mobile computing, cloud, user errors, and internal attacks. 

While some corporate security threats have not changed over the years, such as hackers-malware, new ones have emerged and are among the champions, such as allowing employees to use their own mobile device and Cloud computing, a very recent scenario. Even though these technologies offer countless benefits for the company, they carry their own risks and a set of security challenges. Mobile and Cloud are forcing IT and the security team to reevaluate the structure of their network and renew their strategies to ensure that their information remains protected. 

Here's what you need to know about the company's top five security threats: 

1- Hackers and Malware 

Malware and targeted attacks are nothing new, but their level of sophistication improves with each passing year. These threats trick users into downloading or opening malicious files, taking advantage of network actions and software vulnerabilities to infect and spread. Attacks use complex techniques to avoid detection. Researchers estimate that about 25 million new strains, unique to malware, were launched in 2011 and are expected to reach 185 million new variants by 2021. Attackers are taking advantage of the vulnerability of users who access social networks and design the attack. Many types of malware encrypt their communications with remote servers, making it difficult for network administrators to identify the offending packages. 

2- Mobile Computing 

Companies are experimenting with new techniques to take advantage of the popularity of mobile devices in order to attract and retain customers. Companies are promoting new mobile apps or mobile-friendly sites. IT teams are trying to support mobile computing so that employees remain productive, even when they are not at their desks. And the security team has to figure out how to protect all mobile devices connected to the company’s network and, from there, discover malicious applications and other types of attacks. The team also has to worry about what happens when corporate data is stored on mobile devices and, if it is lost or stolen (and contains sensitive data) what action they should take. That was a concern that didn't exist before, 

3- Cloud 

Many business groups have started using cloud services and web applications to work with this technology, without even talking to IT people before. These employees may consider themselves proactive, but they are exposing the entire organization to threats. Before making any decision, they should check what is the security that this "cloud" proposes and if they will give back if there is any type of disorder. 

4- Errors 

Many data breaches were the result of attackers who discovered passwords, which were weak or default passwords that had never been changed. Or someone also changes the antivirus configuration and makes an error, exposing the data. If an employee forgets to leave a computer that contains company records, it ends up allowing someone else to gain access to the information. And, generally, attackers take files and they are moved to a publicly accessible server, without being encrypted. 

5- Internal Threats 

92% of data breaches are caused by the external, while 14% internally. Organizations need to consider this data of internal threats among one of the most important, as this can occur, for example, when an employee is unhappy with the organization and can instead expose information to the public or take information to the competitor. It can still happen that a former employee is able to re-enter the network after leaving the company and having access to equipment, which can damage it, contaminate it, or, worse, delete important data. So companies cannot neglect this. 

For the company, it is not enough to understand that these corporate security threats exist. The security team then has to work with high-level management and business groups to understand how these risks specifically threaten the organization, and to implement best practices and technologies that will protect data and maintain system integrity.