Security
How much can your company afford to lose if your network is breached?
Security is about managing risk by protecting your company’s assets. Is your customer data, employees’ personnel records, company financials, network’s operating and communications system, inventory tracking and order flow (just to name a few) protected?
In today’s business world, every IT executive, COO and CEO must manage network and data security issues. If information stored on computer networks is put in the hands of the wrong person the competitive landscape or the course of markets could change.
A recent example is Novell, a software company. Kevin Mitnick hacked into Novell’s network, stole the source code and displayed it on a public
website where anyone could and did download the information. Prior to this security breach, Novell owned the network operating system market. Today, Novell struggles to keep a 5% market share. They are a prime example of what could happen to a company that suffers a security breach.
Security risks also come from domestic and foreign organized crime components. There are literally thousands of criminal organizations writing and covertly distributing Malware, which is designed to find critical personal and financial information and then forward it back to these organizations to be used for all sorts of fraud.
In the 21st century, most security risks are not as dramatic as the examples above but can prove quite damaging nonetheless. Today, most security breaches come from users inside a company who attempt to access data for which they don’t have permission. Or information is sent to others who should not have access. Sometimes Malware –a contraction of the words “Malicious” and “Software” –is used to transmit information, like keystrokes, that may contain passwords, account numbers, etc, to an invisible third party that uses the information in a damaging manner.
As you think about your network’s current security strategy, consider these questions:
- Who is on your network and how do you identify them?
- What are you doing now for security?
- Think about guest access. Can your network allow guests to access specific areas for work while keeping them out of others?
- What does your current network do when a security breach occurs?
- How does your network protect confidential client or employee information?
- If your company handles credit card transactions, how do you secure the data?
A complete security solution begins with a solid foundation
It starts at the network core and builds outward. At the core’s center is a
highly intelligent switch, capable of communicating with all current and
future network devices. From the core, security builds out to all other
devices, and then continues to the edge of the network and addresses the
gateways to the outside world.
PNC recommends industry standard layers as the strongest approach to addressing security concerns. Since the PC is the source and destination of most security breaches, all strategies should include solutions that address PCs. Our list of recommendations includes:
- Anti-virus software on all PCs.
- Centralized control of the anti-virus software, equipped with tools to inform you of status. This is how you know your anti-virus software is always working.
- A firewall function that includes intrusion prevention capabilities. An Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) is a single device that combines these and other security capabilities.
- Quality of Service (QoS) on the network to ensure traffic is correctly marked, shaped, prioritized and queued on a network. Every network has a “killer application” that needs to be protected.
- Scanning and filtering of all email traffic –coming and going. Currently 80% of all email is junk email that can create a bottleneck on low-speed Internet connections. PNC recommends using award- winning IronPort products to filter out SPAM, Malware, adware and viruses from all inbound and outbound traffic. These products can also prevent inappropriate materials from being emailed fraudulently.
Not only is network security vital to your company’s operations and assets, in many cases it’s required by law. HIPPA, GLB, SOX, SB-1386 (applies to California and at least 15 other states have similar legislation), PIPEDA (Canada) and EU Data Directive apply to various industries as a measure of safeguarding employees’ and customers’ personal data. Failure to comply can result in stiff fines and punitive action. It makes good business sense to have a rock-solid network security policy implemented and consistently enforced company-wide.
PNC partners with industry leaders such as IronPort and Cisco Systems offer you the perfect products and software for your networking security needs. Our experts will work with you to develop and implement a security strategy you can feel good about. Contact your PNC representative for further assistance.