Companies must constantly adopt new strategies to ensure the cybersecurity of their systems. Assoprovider offers some advice to avoid the pitfalls of the web.

Cybersecurity of corporate data is an increasingly sensitive issue. According to a report by Trend Micro the losses for companies due to cyber attacks amount to 4 billion dollars worldwide, just in the first three months of 2017!

Companies know that adopting good data security policies can make a difference, yet few actually do so.

This is confirmed by Niccolò Rigacci of Tex.Net, a company in the Assoprovider network. Niccolò offers some useful tips to avoid falling into the traps of cybercriminals. Here are some cybersecurity techniques.

Cybersecurity: watch out for cryptolockers  

Niccolò tells us about the cryptolockers that are very widespread today and risk "cutting you off" from company data"They are extremely risky, more than what is reported in the general press. How does it work? The infection occurs by downloading an email attachment. Cybercriminals encrypt all company documents and then demand a ransom to 'release' them."

But threats with cryptolockers are not limited to data confidentiality. It happens that hackers manage to access your email and modify your data:

"For example, they can change the IBAN in an attachment and thus transfer money from one account to another."

Computer protection involves solutions that may seem simple, but that prevent significant damage. Like data backup: «What we always recommend to our clients is to adopt automatic backup procedures, one per day, or at least one per week. This way, the damage is contained, and there is no need to spend hours of work and a lot of money to recover lost data».

It security: employee training is a priority  

According to Niccolò, before considering network antivirus systems and ad hoc software, the priority to ensure data integrity and overall security on the Internet within the company is employee training:

"The most critical factor is always the human one. The vast majority of attacks that a company suffers are due to an employee's mistake, who downloads an attachment or opens a suspicious email. It is enough to equip employees with a minimum of skills to greatly reduce attacks."

Niccolò argues that training is even more necessary today, when attacks are immediate (the so-called zero days), while the most common antivirus and protection software need to update and identify the problem over a longer period.

Network Antivirus, which are the most useful?  

Antivirus software can be quite problematic, as Niccolò tells us. Some of the more prominent and paid ones risk significantly slowing down the machine, forcing companies to forgo using them to avoid excessively hindering operations.

According to him, even the free ones, which are now widespread on the Internet, work well:

"The downside is that they then bombard you with advertisements, constantly asking you to choose a premium, paid version. Apart from this annoyance, they work quite well."

Security systems: why Linux wins  

How to ensure cybersecurity? Niccolò confides that the company uses Linux systems. Recommend installing them when there are no particular needs: just desk work, access to management software, and on web platforms:

"Linux has a different approach to security and offers greater stability guarantees. Among the main reasons is that the target of Linux is certainly less appealing to hackers and cybercriminals."

Corporate cybersecurity: a mistake not to make  

Niccolò has extensive experience in the field of cybersecurity. The company he collaborates with, Text.Net, was one of the first provider to offer Internet services to Prato-based companies. In his career, he has seen it all and can tell us what mistake many companies make regarding digital security:

"The mistake I observe in almost everyone is underestimating the possibility of being potential targets. The question everyone asks: 'And why should it happen to me?' As a result, they don't perform backups, they don't archive documents correctly. They lower their guard, and when the threat arrives, they are completely unprepared."