Think hackers only attack large multinational companies like Sony or Citibank? Think again. Here at TeamLogic IT, we recently had to defend one of our clients against a major brute force attack by an unknown hacker. They were a new client, and we had just put them on our Managed Services solution, SystemWatch IT. We quickly discovered that an outside computer was blasting their network with a never-ending stream of usernames and passwords in an attempt to break in. It's not something our client would have noticed in the normal course of business, but SystemWatch IT alerted us nearly immediately. We made a few changes to improve security of the client's network and the attacks quickly stopped. Fortunately the company had a sound password management strategy that enforced the requirement for strong passwords. A less strict company may well have been successfully hacked before we ever took over managing their network.
What we experienced is becoming more commonplace throughout the world. Hackers are starting to realize it's easier to break into small businesses, who often don't have robust security measures, than large companies with highly skilled IT departments. The rewards might not be as great, but it's much easier to do. The Wall Street Journal recently published a disturbing article about this new trend in hacking. You can read it HERE.
If you capture any kind of confidential information in your network—credit card information, client data, trade secrets, company financial information, etc.—take the time to assess the quality of your network's security. If you have any doubts, have an IT professional do a thorough security audit for you.
