(This video chapter begins at 12:44 and ends at 14:44. Click on the blue dot at the 12:44 timestamp to play the video for this module.)

Prevention Software

Now we’ve gotten to the good stuff! We’ve thoroughly covered the many dangers lurking, attempting to take over your computer systems, or even steal your identity. It’s now time to talk about the proactive steps you can take to protect yourself and your business. While you may not be able to completely avoid these risks, there are many ways to lessen your exposure to threats, vulnerabilities, and attacks.

Our focus quote for this module:

“As the United States attorney in Manhattan, I have come to worry about few things as much as the gathering cyber threat.” – Preet Bharara

Firewalls

Firewalls use pre-set security rules to keep track of, and regulate, the incoming and outgoing traffic of your network system.

Think of a fire wall as a blockade between the internal network, which is a trusted source, and external networks, which are presumed not to be safe.

The two types of firewalls are network firewalls and host-based firewalls. Network firewalls specifically filter the flow of traffic concerning at least two networks, while host-based firewalls deal with one host that manages the traffic in and out of that particular machine.

Virtual Private Networks

Virtual private networks (VPNs) are private networks that spread across a public network (the Internet). VPNs enable users to send and receive information across the public network as if they are connected to the private networks.

An example of this would be a company that gives its employees access to its Intranet while not inside of the office. This would be called Remote Access VPN.

Another type of VPN, is Site-to-Site VPN. This is where one company has offices in different geographical locations. Users are able to connect the network of one office site to the network of another office site.

The above VPN types are based on a variety of VPN security protocols, which come with different qualities and degrees of security.

Protocols:

• Internet Protocol Security
• Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol
• Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol
• Secure Sockets Layer and Transport Layer Security
• OpenVPN
• Secure Shell

Anti-Virus & Anti-Spyware

Anti-Virus Software

Anti-Virus Software protects users from many different threats. Some of these include viruses, browser hijackers, rootkits, Trojans, worms, and Ransomware.

Anti-Spyware Software

Anti-Spyware Software aims to detect and dispose of spyware programs that the user doesn’t intend to have on their system. These Spyware programs are installed on the computer without the user’s knowledge or consent and collect information about them. Spyware can cause damage such as posing a security risk and reducing system performance.

Examples of companies that offer Anti-Virus/ Anti-Spyware programs:

• McAfee
• Kaspersky
• Bitdefender
• Norton

To ensure your Anti-Virus/ Anti-Spyware programs are working properly, it is crucial that you regularly update your settings and run scheduled scans to check for anything suspicious.

Routine Updates

Operating systems regularly release updates to address security issues and improve computer performance. The three categories that these fall into are high priority, suggested, and drivers.

High priority updates are just as their name states. They are very important and should be non-negotiable. Examples of such updates include security patches and bug fixes.

Suggested updates can help improve the performance of your computer, but typically, do not allow for major problems, if not installed.

Drivers can be a bit more complicated if you’re not versed in what they are and how to install them. If you are positive that you need the update for that driver, install it. Otherwise, it could be more of a headache than it is worth.

Practical Illustration

Greg and Richard are in a meeting discussing the recent cyberattack their company underwent. They are bouncing ideas off of each other regarding what methods they want to implement to prevent this from happening again. Greg says at a minimum, they should invest in Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software. Richard agrees and says they should also look into firewalls and making sure their operating system is conducting routine updates as it should. Greg questions what security measure they should have in place for when they are working on their business computers away from the office.