Losing confidential and private information is one of the main issues faced by businesses, with breaches occurring due to no formal written internet security policies for employees, as well as a lack of firewall best practices and email security software implementing; businesses are now more exposed than ever.

Below we've provided 20 proven techniques to improve cybersecurity in your workplace, preparing it for now and for the future.

Let’s get started...

1. Educate your workforce on what cybersecurity actually is.

It's naive of us to think that everyone knows and understands all of the different forms of cyber-attacks, what they look like and what they mean. But, why should we, surely, we have our IT departments to take care of all of that?

Wrong.

Your IT teams can only do so much, and what they can't do is stop employees clicking on links they shouldn't because they're unsure, visit sites they shouldn't because they don't know what's appropriate, or worse, sharing information online without using appropriate security encryption methods first.

3. Set reminders.

Not only will all of this combined information be appreciated; it also makes people much more aware of internet security and how they play a vital role.

To help achieve this objective further:

Steps:

5. Tell IT ASAP

Mistakes happen, this is inevitable. Especially as the complexity of phishing attempts grow in sophistication, bypassing even the most robust firewalls put in place. If you do fall victim to a potential attack, don't cover it up. This can only lead to matters getting worse and bigger problems presenting themselves.

Steps:

Steps:

8. Be ready to respond to a digital attack

In today's digital era, you can't rest on your laurels; you need to be prepared at all times for when a cyber-attack might strike.

10. Make a cybersecurity strategy a priority

No one is invincible to a cyber-attack of some sort. To strengthen your resilience to such attacks:

14. How private is private if the information isn't encrypted?

Encryption is the best way to protect privacy and confidentiality, yet not everyone knows how to use it, set it up, and communicate it throughout the organisation.

Steps:

15. Be careful what you post about yourself and others

Posting status updates and tweets online can seem harmless at the time, but it is also one of the biggest areas which land people in a whole host of trouble. Opening up you and businesses to being hacked, suffer from identity theft, etc., all because people monitor your activity and what you say online, and then use this information against you in some form or another.

Steps to avoid such adverse events from happening:

However, for them to be effective:

Good firewalls monitor all incoming and outgoing data, consistently and to a high standard.

Learning from mistakes is the only way we as individuals as well as organisations can move on. Learning from highlighted practices reported in the news as well as competitor information is also essential.

To take heed of past learnings you need:

A comprehensive and varied range of objectives, but objectives that businesses found necessary and that SonicWall knew it could develop.

Welcome, cloud applications, better-protected networks, endpoints, and protection to all individual data to coincide with this.

With new products and advanced features to the Capture Cloud Platform, please welcome the future of Firewalls

SonicWall SOHO Firewall 250 & TZ350 Firewalls

Classed as the next generation of firewalls, the SonicWall SOHO Firewall helps to consolidate security, performance, and networking. All while keeping the cost of ownership low. Ultimately, you can reduce your costs and save you and your teams’ time through a host of new integrated features. Features such as secure SD-WAN, Zero-Touch Deployment, and auto-provision VPN.

Cloud App Security 2.0

Explicitly designed to support cloud software, this app helps to protect against phishing attacks, email fraud and zero-day threats, all through its advanced threat protection. The software is also sophisticated enough that it can identify and stop destructive Microsoft Office files and PDFs held in cloud applications.

SonicWall Wi-Fi Planner

An easy to use Wi-Fi surveying tool, the SonicWall Wi-Fi planner helps to enhance workforce productivity and user experience due to how you design and deploy your wireless networks better. Taken into account, different office spaces, floor plans, power requirements, building materials, channel width, signal strength, radio bands, and much more, make decisions easier with SonicWall Wi-Fi planner.

SonicWall Wi-Fi Cloud Manager

Simplifying wireless access is what this scalable and centralised management network can support. With troubleshooting abilities across all size networks or locations, the SonicWall Wi-Fi app helps you to monitor your network and is available on iOS and Android. Set up wireless mesh networks and onboard wireless access points much easier and faster with SonicWall Wi-Fi Cloud Manager.

Capture Client 2.0

The SonicWall Capture Client lets you track a threats origin as well as its intended destinations all with advanced endpoint detection and response capabilities. Killing or putting into quarantine such threats and having the ability to roll back endpoints to a last known good state helps you to avoid any potential infections.

SonicWall SonicWave with Wireless Access points, 200 Series

The Wave 2 wireless is not only secure but extremely affordable. Delivering gigabit performance, range, and reliability, you can also use the advanced security settings to provide you with the ultimate user experience. With additional services covering content filtering and capture advanced threat protection sandbox, have complete peace of mind even when firewalls aren’t used.

Email Security 10.0

Now providing layers of protection, SonicWall’s email security includes time-of-click URL protection and attachment sandboxing. All targeted to stop in their tracks attempted phishing attacks, business email compromise, ransomware, and email fraud.

SonicOS 6.5.4

With significant improvements in authentication, network security, and wireless capabilities, the new version of SonicWall’s operating system is ideally matched with the new SonicWall hardware platforms. Some of the highlights include an increase in DPI-SSL connections and providing extensive reporting and logging features.

If you would like to learn about SonicWall and the products available to protect your business check out our website today or call us on 0333 2405667, we’d be happy to help.

Cyber threat reports, like the ones carried out by SonicWall online, have recently shown a staggeringly high increase in ransomware attacks in particular.

Reports show that in the first six months of 2018, 5.99 billion malware attacks were carried out, equating to a whopping 102% increase compared to the same six months in 2017.

Two big-named threats

Ransomware such as WannaCrypt (also known as WannaCry) and variances of this malicious software have added to this increase with this particular ransomware first striking systems in 2017 and playing havoc with networks ever since.

The basis of this ransomware is where the malware encrypts user data and then hides it for ransom until the victim pays.

Unfortunately, threats like this are very real and especially linked with the encryption of data“ - nothing can be considered safe any more.

To help stop such attacks from getting through operating systems in the first place, people can set up firewall devices, and SonicWall security to block access to certain parts of the Internet. Your firewall should act as your first line of defence in setting up any networks and new devices.

One of the biggest online security threats has been the emergence of the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities, which have affected multiple CPU vendors.

Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities ultimately allowed side-channel attacks that abused operating systems' memory to steal user information and confidential files.

SonicWall Real Time Deep Memory Inspection technology has been designed to protect businesses and individuals against these Spectre attacks. Looking at what these attacks are trying to achieve, how they access systems and stop these features from getting into your operating systems, and providing the highest level of security in a device.

Changing with the times

Online attacks, like everything, change with the times. They follow the latest trends and where people are spending or using money, and these attackers jump on the bandwagon.

An example of this has been the rise in stealing cryptocurrencies. Using stolen information as leverage or hacking into operating systems to build upon this growing trend.

At SonicWall we monitor trends, and we ensure that the SonicWall firewalls also stand up against any new and unusual threats, offering you complete peace of mind that you don't need a new firewall device every time a new threat is introduced.

It's also important to be aware that there has been a rise in fake ransomware attacks, where demand is made, but no files are encrypted or any data etc. stolen and used.

Fake ransomware means just that; they’re fake. However, because not everyone is aware what is fake and what is not and things to look out for to spot a fraud (check out our posts and guides on how to spot a fake), we often don't realise that if you are a victim of fake ransomware, then your files can be restored. But there is a little bit, because most users will probably think their data is gone, i.e. that the fake ransomware has encrypted their systems, and they will have to reinstall everything.

Although all fake ransomware attacks have failed, the threat is still there, and in some cases, people can still damage their systems by doing a full reinstallation.

A different way

A note for organisations is that online threats are also now trying to find a different way in. What we mean by this is that they're now using non-standard ports as they are not necessarily thought to carry the same level of risk, as they may not have the same level of security.

However, over 19% of malware attacks last year came through non-standard ports. We advise all companies and their IT departments to apply the same level of care when using non-standard ports as they would with standard ports.

In 2018 attacks on IoT devices stood at 32.7 million and SonicWall security wants to play its part in bringing these extremely high figures down or at least stop attacks from happening in the first place.

Thousands of people buy SonicWall firewalls and security devices because of the trusted service they receive from our teams, the features and benefits they can provide, and the enhanced security they offer.

At SonicWall Sales we see these increases on public infrastructures, in the cloud, every day, posing numerous threats and costly fixes!

However, when it comes to offering security solutions for the cloud, there is still a lot of work to do.

Work in understanding its infrastructure, understanding how it works with the mobile era, and how we can zone in on these understandings to create the best security software available.

Why is this level of understanding important?

Well, IDC has recently reported that approximately 83% of projects are now virtual and a further 60% of bigger enterprises now use the cloud in some form.

In addition to these statistics, with continuous changes to the cloud, keeping projects and workloads secure has become more challenging than ever before.

But SonicWall firewalls are ready.

Continuously developing security software, SonicWall has recently extended security to the public cloud (enhancing and taking it one step further from the private cloud), providing start to finish security for multiple cloud deployments - all through the SonicWall Network Security virtual (NSv) firewall series.

The benefits of cloud technology are widely known, offering users scalability, greater flexibility and agility, infrastructure consistency and improved business efficiency. And now, with SonicWall NSv, Microsoft Azure and AWS (Amazon Web Services) are to be included in the public cloud environments.

An industry-leading firewall series

The SonicWall NSv series offers users:

• Application control and intelligence
• Monitoring in real-time
• IPS
• Inspection and decryption
• Advanced cyber-attack protection
• Network segmentation and VPN capabilities

All designed and developed to protect Azure and AWS environments.

The NSv is the next generation to the SonicWall hardware firewall, which includes the features that customers like and admire most. Such as the innovative technology - Reassembly-Free Deep Packet Inspection (which is patented), and the Capture Advanced Threat Protection sandbox which provided real-time. Deep Memory Inspection, both designed to stop cyber threats and attacks in their tracks.

If you’re looking to control traffic and get complete transparency across all of your virtual networks and private clouds, then NSv is for you. Providing you with seamless security, enhanced management capabilities, increased performance, reduced operating costs, a drive in innovation, quick placement, and more - NSv makes a move to the cloud safer and more straightforward.

Solutions to cloud security needs

Cloud security is of the utmost importance, and NSv in all of its many models is on hand to address the issues surrounding public cloud data and applications.

Benefits to protecting your public resources and cloud infrastructure include gaining clarity into the virtual world of threat prevention, you can implement security zoning and appropriate policies, and you can be in a stronger position to protect against everyday hackers and threats.

You can also stop service disruptions from happening and maintain the highest levels of security, remaining compliant and risk-free, all without having a negative impact on performance.

SonicWall firewall VPN can be used in VPN deployment, secure connectivity, as well as used to tighten remote access and more.

Make SonicWall NSv THE security choice when it comes to the public cloud.

With patented technologies, the best in the business technological innovation to support the latest developments, and powerful security now extending to the

public cloud, for the best security systems in the market, SonicWall provide it with all.

Note: The date for AWS availability is pending; however, SonicWall NSv is available for Azure public cloud environments now.

At SonicWall Sales, we provide the latest in security software and hardware systems, and we’re always on hand to answer your questions.

How do firewalls work?

Firewalls are software programs that prevent someone from accessing your computer. It identifies inbound threats and isolates them so that they don’t have a chance to wreak havoc with your system.

They’re not just good at keeping viruses, malware, and so on out, though. They can also be used to prevent the transmission of sensitive data out of your system. So, if you have an employee who is trying to transmit protected files, the firewall can prevent that.

Finally, a firewall might also be programmed to block what it deems malicious sites or sites that are considered a no-no. If you’re running a business and would prefer that your staff do not access social media while at work, the software can be programmed to block access to those sites.

Essentially, a firewall works by following a set of parameters that your IT professional puts in place. If it comes across a request, incoming or outgoing, that falls outside of those parameters, it will block that request.

By blocking any requests that do not fit the preset parameters, it ensures that your entire system is safe.

About SonicWall Firewall

There are different firewall types out there. Some are relatively simple and focus on just keeping malware off your system. Others, like those provided by SonicWall firewall, can do much more. It is one of the reasons that many businesses choose SonicWall firewall for internet security.