Cyber Security Assessment
In today’s digital landscape, cyber attacks are rampant. According to recent surveys, businesses targeted by cyber criminals increased from 38% to 43% over the past year, with many of those surveyed reporting five attacks or more. Meanwhile, ransomware attacks rose by 158% in North America alone between 2019 and 2020.
This begs the question – is your company taking the appropriate steps to protect itself? Although many companies have good intentions and install cyber security software initially, many tend to ignore them, leaving them vulnerable to attacks over time. Most threats originate from outside of your organization. These threats can take many forms, including malware, phishing, pharming, ransomware, spam, spyware, etc. The list is constantly evolving and changing.
There is also a risk to organizations from inside your organization. These threats can be just as destructive as external threats. These can be confidential information leakage, social engineering, malicious cyber attacks and malicious downloads, among other threats. Depending on your business, there may be a regulatory body that enforces a certain level of security posture on your organization.
Fortunately, the technology experts at Van Ausdall & Farrar can provide recommendations, services and products to mitigate risks. Contact us today to schedule a cyber threat assessment and to learn how we can help your company stay safe from cyber threats.
Cyber Security Threats
Cyber threats can generally be broken down into three specific areas that we focus our assessment methodology on:
- External vulnerabilities
- Internal vulnerabilities
- Regulatory compliance
By focusing on these three key areas, Van Ausdall & Farrar can provide recommendations, services and products to mitigate risks. Let’s discuss each area in more detail.
External Vulnerabilities
This assessment focuses on a company’s internet-facing systems, including cloud-based communications, email, remote access, voice communications and web servers. A business’ Next-Generation Firewall, which many companies invest in, protects these systems. However, security and performance may still be lacking. Since this is the gate to the wild west of the internet, this is the most critical area to assess vulnerabilities.
The professionals at Van Ausdall & Farrar can assess your company’s internet traffic without removing the existing firewall. We can install a small Fortinet appliance to capture your company’s bilateral internet traffic while your existing firewall is doing its job. After a seven-day monitoring period, we review a comprehensive report to determine vulnerabilities not addressed by your current security posture and make the appropriate recommendations.
Internal Vulnerabilities
An internal vulnerabilities assessment focuses on your company’s inside IT assets, which can include servers, host clients and many other devices. Don’t assume that because these systems are behind your firewall that security is not as important. These assets store all of a company’s critical and sensitive information, so proactively looking for vulnerabilities can help guard against their occurrence.
Van Ausdall & Farrar utilizes a vulnerability scanner to locate and assess all divides that are connected to your company’s internal network and then provide recommendations for improving your internal cyber security posture.
Regulatory Compliance
During a regulatory compliance audit, Van Ausdall & Farrar determines which regulations your network and devices must abide by based on your industry and the vendors and customers you work with. An expert certified by the world’s leading cyber security professional organization, ISC, will determine which regulations apply to your company and make recommendations on how to avoid problems. These professionals are trained in all local, state and federal cyber security regulations.
Contact Us to Schedule a Cyber Security Assessment
Don’t leave your company vulnerable to cyber attacks, fines, data loss and intrusion. Have a professional from VAF perform a cyber threat assessment to assess your cyber security on a regular basis and provide recommendations based on your specific needs.