Security vulnerabilities are a big issue right now. Why? Because hackers are on the constant lookout for those blind spots in your infrastructure — for where you or your developers dropped the ball. One of the biggest issues in uncovering security vulnerabilities lies in just that, in the fact that in many cases you’ll have to come face to face with a personal fumble. You have to admit that you, and your team, are not only fallible but are incredibly prone – like all human beings – of making mistakes. Or simply disregarding or undermining a threat or risk. In this post we’re going to give you a DIY fast and easy model on how to solve some of the most common security issues. It’s not a fail-safe, once implemented solution, but a model to try to stick to and adopt into your business.
Why is fixing security vulnerabilities not so simple?
In a nutshell, security vulnerabilities are a major concern for all organizations. It is not so simple to fix them because of the following reasons:
- They are not easy to detect.
- They are not easy to patch.
- They can be exploited by hackers for malicious purposes.
- The cost of fixing them is very high and it hurts the company’s revenue and reputation.
And, more importantly, most companies – particularly in the tech industry – have to deal with developers. Developers have a nasty habit, rarely do they admit they can be wrong. It’s part of their god complex. For a company to detect, audit, and ultimately patch a security vulnerability their team first has to come to grasp their liability for errors. With their imperfection. With their carelessness. With their common human attributes. That’s why, in most cases, companies tend to outsource their security infrastructure — they tend to go outside their sandbox and hire out objective professionals that have no skin in the game and will honestly call people out. Not just employers, but managers and CEOs — the latter incredibly prone to disregarding common security issues.
Ways to fix security vulnerabilities
93% of all your security issues will come down to your employees. That’s the first factor you have to consider when evaluating the cost of fixing security vulnerabilities. Computers, software, third-party apps, servers, etc, all those tools can be patched and updated. It just takes a couple of lines of code. Your employees, on the other hand, are a bit more resistant to changing their habits — as much as we would love to, we can’t download an update and simply improve their performances and fix some of their more damming bugs.
Here’s a list of how to fix vulnerabilities
Invest in modern endpoint detection and response tools
If your systems are going to be attacked it’s probably going to be at an end-point. In that gate where you have no other choice but to allow your programs and software to dive into the net. That’s where they get their infections. Until that moment, everything you have is in quarantine mode. Once you cross that door or open them, you’re exposing your systems to all manner of nasty bugs. That’s why it is critical to have the equivalent of digital alcohol, facemask, a bouncer, and temperature control on every one of these access points.
And still, that won’t prevent a breach or contamination. It will just make it harder. Hackers, like viruses, adapt. They create new variants to their malware. You design a vaccine, they go out of their way to make their new delivery measure resistant to it. This is where response tools come in. They are responsible for detecting a breach or infection and reacting to it. They not only mitigate their spread and fix what they have tampered but they allow you to stay active during that time. The biggest cost of a breach isn’t the breach itself, but the loss of profit you experience during downtime.
making security a company culture
Part of the battle is psychological. That’s why it is crucial to somehow mold key security issues into your core company values. And then into your employees. It’s allowing your team to understand that they are not infallible and that if attacked the company isn’t the only one that suffers — that they too will feel the blowback.
Backup and recovery strategy
When was the last time you made a secure backup of your system? When was the last time you tested that backup? If the answer is less than a week then you are in deep trouble. Why? If your systems are compromised and you go offline, your first line of defense is your backups. They will permit you to flip the script on the attack and shorten the loss of profits.
Implementing stringent password
Folks are really bad when it comes to password management. How bad? Here are the biggest issues:
- Easy to figure out passwords.
- The same password for all their accounts and systems.
- Writing passwords on a notebook or piece of paper — and then leaving it near their terminal.
- Divulging and sharing their passwords
A study revealed that the most common password in existence was “password” followed by “12345678.” And you want to know why we no longer use those dead giveaways? Not because we’ve improved our password habits, but because most systems and platforms no longer allow them.
Conduct regular vulnerability training
It’s important to sit down with your employers and make them comprehend key vulnerability practices. Here’s how important it is. A study revealed that over 70% of employees – developers, engineers, and incredibly talented folks – would often use easy-to-access public WiFi. Why? Because it was easier than having to remember a WiFi password. There are millions of issues your employers have to be made aware of.
The final tip — hire experts
It’s incredibly important to fix security vulnerabilities — the cost of an average breach for a company, as of 2021 was around $4 million. It’s also critical to understand that most of the time you need an objective expert willing to call out your employees, your developers, your supervisors, and even yourself on their bad habits. A team that will look at your patchwork model, shore it up and give you peace of mind. After all, you entered your industry for other reasons besides fighting off cyber-attackers — let someone else take on that responsibility.