There are simple ways to solve huge computer security problems
It’s a crazy week at work. You’re the last one out of the office, cranking out work until 11 p.m. The last thing you do before leaving is lock the door. Without locking the door, your entire business would be vulnerable.
Luckily, there are only a few sets of keys to your office, so it’s well protected. But what if everyone in the neighborhood had a key? Or what if everyone knew that jiggling the handle would pop the door open? How safe would your business be then?
Now think about the other entrance to your office: the computer network. Is it locked? Are you sure? Because if it’s not, your business is just as vulnerable as if you left the front door wide open every night.
This story from InformationWeek should scare every business with an unlocked computer network. Convicted hacker Robert Moore is beginning a two-year federal prison sentence today for his part in a sophisticated telecommunications scam, according to the story.
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Moore broke into the networks of 15 telecommunications companies and hundreds of businesses worldwide. “One small telecom went out of business because of the expenses the company incurred during the break in,” according to InformationWeek.
Moore said his job was “so easy a caveman could do it.” He targeted default passwords, scanned over 6 million computers in five months, and found that 70 percent of all the companies were insecure, according to InformationWeek.
Default passwords are a hacker’s dream. They are passwords that come standard with a piece of software and are the same for every computer the software is installed on. This makes passwords like “admin” a hacker’s first guess when trying to break into a system, because many companies never change the defaults.
If your network is using default passwords, it’s time to change them. Ignoring them is exposing your computers to hackers who can use them to disguise their hunt for bigger fish, or who want to steal credit card numbers and personal information.
No system is totally-hacker proof, but problems like default passwords and outdated security patches are foolish. They make it unnecessarily easy for hackers to exploit your business. Perhaps it’s time for a network security audit? Talk to the professionals and see how you can keep your customers and your business safer.
