Internet Attacks – A Threat to Your Business?

It seems that each week we hear of a new virus or worm spreading like wild fire throughout the internet.  We all know the media likes stories like this, but is it relevant to you?  Is your business really at risk?  After all, who would want to bother with a small business?  Aren’t the big corporations the ones that need to be worried?

The big corporations are worried and they are spending millions of dollars a year to protect their computer systems.  Unfortunately, most internet attacks are a crime of opportunity. The attacker does not care whether the victim is a big business, a small business, or a home computer.  All the attacker cares about is that his attack will work.  While hacking is alive and well in the computer underworld, it is viruses and worms that are the greater danger today.  Both viruses and worms are just computer programs and programs don’t care who the victim is.   They just want more victims.

How Many Victims?

The Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (CERT/CC) is the federally funded agency that tracks computer security issues.  They define an incident as unauthorized use of a computer system, an unwanted disruption of computer service, or changes to a system without the owner’s knowledge.  The chart below shows that the number of security incidents reported to CERT/CC is growing at a phenomenal rate.  There were over 137,000 attacks last year alone.  You can be certain that the actual number of attacks is significantly higher since many incidents go unreported.  The bottom line is your business is at risk!

Number of Reported Security Incidents per Year

How to Protect Your Business

Unfortunately there is no single solution to protect your computer system.  The best solution is to layer levels of protection on top of one another.  This concept is not new.  It is called defense in depth and has been practiced for hundreds if not thousands of years.  An easy way to visualize defense in depth is the way ancient kings employed it.  First, they surrounded themselves with an army.  Next they built a castle to protect the army. Finally, they dug a moat to make attacking the castle more difficult.  None of the layers offered perfect protection, but each one made the others stronger and together they provided the best possible defense.  The layered approach to computer security works the same way.  The critical layers of computer system protection are:

·        Physical Security – Keeping unauthorized people away from your computers and data connections eliminates many opportunities for attack.

·        Internet Firewall – This can be hardware or software that filters incoming internet traffic and automatically prevents many types of attacks.  Hardware firewalls also hide your computer network from the internet so they are usually a far better solution than software firewalls. However, for a stand alone computer, a software firewall can be effective and it cost significantly less than the hardware based alternatives.

·        Operating System – Basic operating system security limits which computers can connect one another, what information can be shared, and who can log on to a computer or network.

·        Antivirus Protection – Filters out harmful viruses and worms before they can do damage.

·        Business Practices – Ensure that users have strong passwords, that computers are monitored for unnatural events and regular back ups take place.

Today’s Biggest Threat

Worms are the most common threat at the moment.  They typically spread when a worm gets into a computer and then gathers all the email addresses on the hard disk.  The worm then secretly starts emailing itself to everyone on the list.  Anyone on the list who is not properly protected will then have the worm do the same thing on their computer.  Along the way, the worm usually opens up security holes to allow hackers to enter every computer it infects.

The image below shows how the layered approach protects your computer.  This worm is most likely riding in on an infected email. Physical security is immediately bypassed. It does not matter how many doors and locks it takes to get to your computer, since the worm surfs in on the wires that connect you to the internet.  The internet firewall is not an obstacle either, because it must let email through.  Fortunately, the antivirus software catches the worm before it can reach its target.   Had the worm reached the operating system it would have opened security holes that would then allow a hacker to bypass all levels of security and get to the computer data or use the computer to launch an attack on someone else.  This type of attack has caused more than one unsuspecting person to have the F.B.I. knock on their door.

Five Layers of Internet Security

Are You Protected?

It is a challenge for most small businesses get protected and it can be an even bigger challenge to stay protected.  Even if all five layers are in place (and they usually are not) each layer must be kept up to date.  In the example above, if the antivirus software had not been up to date the system may have been infected.  Many components such as antivirus software and some firewalls can be set up to automatically stay current.  Some Windows operating systems can do this too, but the application software such as Word, Excel, and Internet Explorer is not automatically updated.  This leaves gaping holes just waiting to be exploited. 

This quick lesson in computer security helps explain why large companies have so many people in their information technology (IT) departments.  Many small businesses however, do not have even a single IT person on staff.  If you fall into this category and firewalls, operating systems and automatic updates are foreign to you, then you should have a professional information technology consultant check out your business systems to make sure you are protected.

Eldon Moreland is the president of Sudden Systems, a Houston, Texas based information technology consulting firm.  He can be reached at emoreland@suddensystems.com or by phone at (713) 460-3332.