Protect Your Site from Vulnerabilities – Why You Should Have a Scan

Having a professional looking business website, the right SEO procedures and an effective marketing strategy is only half the battle for any online business. If the website isn’t protected from viruses and hacks, the business is at a risk of sinking to the ground within days.

Even with proper safety measures, such as firewalls and SSL certifications, there could be a breach, as threats evolve every day. A system that regularly scans and detects all the vulnerabilities in the system is something that all business websites need.

Common vulnerabilities found in Website Security Scans

Here are several vulnerabilities that are found in a website security scan:

Injection

SQL, OS, LDAP and NoSQL injections are a hacking techniques that put malicious codes into the system and gives the hackers access to the all the data, as well as tricking the user into performing unintended commands.

Broken Authentication

Any vulnerability in applications related to authentication allows hackers to steal personal information and eventually leads to identity theft of the customers.

Cross-site scripting (XSS)

This hack affects the output of the website and may lead to users being directed to other risky sites when they perform certain action.

Security Misconfiguration

This hack is directed to several components of the website, such as platform, framework, sever and database. Hackers can steal and even change information on the website.

Exposure of sensitive data

All websites should have extra protection for sensitive data, such as credit card number, social security numbers and passwords. Any website that exchanges personal data with its customers should have encryption when processing or transferring data. Any vulnerability can lead to identity theft or credit card fraud.

Cross-site forgery (CSRF)

A CSRF attack involves hackers sending users requests from malicious websites and tricks users into authorizing access to sites which have their private information. Since a particular user’s ID is validated in the site, it enables hackers to attack that site.

How to Perform a Website Security Scan

Website scans shouldn’t be done once a year. Businesses should have software and tools in place that regularly scan their website and detect vulnerabilities in the system.

Lean Security offers complete solutions to companies looking to scan their website. We provide managed external vulnerability scanning as well as internal vulnerability scanning to ensure that companies aren’t just secured from external attacks, but attacks from employees as well.

Get in touch with us today to avail our penetration testing and vulnerability scanning services. We also provide secure cloud managed hosting.

Predicting 2018 Cyber Security Solutions

2017 was pretty rough when it comes to cybercrimes. Experts predict that 2018 may be even worse. Cyber-attacks are becoming more advanced and sophisticated as the years go by, and prove to be devastating for some businesses.

This is why it is important for businesses to educate themselves about threats that have higher risk this year and what safety measures are required in order to deal with them.

Increase in Ransomware

Ransomware is the easiest way for hackers to earn some quick cash and is expected to be on the rise in 2018. This is mainly due to the fact that majority of the companies use outdated legacy systems that are easier to hack into.

New methods and programs for ransomware are being developed everyday which many security products aren’t able to detect. These ransomwares do not run on files, but on legitimate programs, like Microsoft Word, by using specific codes and aren’t detected by an antivirus program.

Solution: the best thing that companies can do is to backup all their data into cloud storage and external devices that are patched.

Insider Attacks

IBM’s 2016 Cyber Security Intelligence Index revealed that almost 60% of the cyber-attacks were carried out by insiders. The more surprising fact is that 75% of those attacks were conducted with malicious intentions, and only 25% were a mistake.

While companies are more focused on protecting themselves from external threats, their biggest risk is from their own employees. HBR predicts that the insider threats are likely to increase even more.

Solution: all companies should have employee monitoring software to know which policies are being violated and what breaches are occurring from the side of the employees. Positive employee behaviour with regards to information security should also be enforced and embedded into the company culture.

IoT Devices

Interconnectivity of devices, such as smartphones, watches, appliances and vehicles, also known as Internet of Things (IoT) is a major risk in 2018.

Smart devices continue to flood the markets, and there aren’t any security regulations to protect any data breach.

Solution: companies need to have thorough security risk assessment procedures in place to identify any vulnerability that may be in the IoT.  When vulnerabilities are identified, only then can the situation be dealt with.

End User Targeting

Hackers will continue to target end-users with more sophisticated methods and phishing scams. Biometric technology in particular will be the highest prize for hackers, and will prove to be just as susceptible to breach as passwords.

Solution: companies will have to increase their spending on security, which also includes cloud security for customers who are switching to cloud, in order to maintain proper security hygiene.

For complete cyber security solutions, get in touch with us. Our services include penetration testing, mobile application penetration testing, WAF managed service, secure cloud managed hosting.

We make sure your company is at the top of its game and ready to deal with any kind of cyber-attack.

Organising a Risk-Based Security Strategy for Your Online Business

Cyber-attacks are not only increasing in number, but also in sophistication. This is why businesses need to switch from response-based approach to cyber-attacks, to identifying and preventing them before they occur.

A risk-based approach to security is all about prioritising data theft risks, knowing all the techniques that can be employed to mitigate those risks and evaluating each method’s ability to deal with the possible threats.

Without a risk-based approach, a business is likely to struggle in determining possible threats to its data and dealing with any such threat when it arises.

Protecting sensitive data

Businesses are enjoying the benefits of innovations in technology and the digital world, but many are struggling to assess the risks associated with it.

Having standard security measures in place must be the first thing that businesses must be concerned about. Many organisations use The Standard, which is provided by the Information Security Forum (ISF), as a reference for the protection of their information.

The Standard helps businesses in protecting themselves against the rapidly evolving threats in the cyber world and is considered the gold standard in information security.

Risk Assessment Process

A risk assessment process refers to formulating procedures for evaluating the impact of a cyber-attack on the business, assessing all the potential vulnerabilities and the required treatment in case of attack in order to protect the information.

While formulating a risk assessment process, the ISF Threat radar is worth reviewing. It helps businesses understand potential threats and their impact on the business, allowing them to review the importance of each threat for their particular organisation.

One thing must be clear, that no organisation can defend itself against all kinds of threats. Therefore, each company should look at its resilience and all the plans that it has for recovery and how it plans to minimise the risks in the future.

Training the employees

The human element in the information security should never be ignored. Employees should be any organisation’s biggest control.

Simply making employees aware of their responsibilities with regard to information security is not enough. Positive information security habits should be embedded deep within the company culture. The driver behind these habits should be ‘risk’ and employees should understand how their behaviours and actions mitigate these risks.  

Building Cyber Resilience

Building cyber resilience is critical in today’s world. The traditional risk management isn’t enough to deal with threats today; it should be expanded to include cyber resilience.

Businesses today are not stand-alone any more, they are globally interdependent, which is why cyber security is so important.

Is your business equipped to deal with cyber-attacks of the modern world? Get in touch with us and get a risk assessment consultation. We provide complete cyber security services including penetration testing services, WAF managed service and advanced web security testing.

Why PCI DSS Compliance Matters to Your Business

While most companies are blissfully unaware of PCI DSS compliance, it matters more to their business than they give it credit for!

Businesses that deal with credit and debit cards should know what PCI compliance is. Verizon’s latest report on the matter paints a very grim picture. While PCI compliance has seen a meteoric rise of 167% since 2012, 80% of the companies operating today still aren’t complying with standards!

Today we’ll discuss the importance of PCI DSS compliance and shine some light on how you can make your business compliant to these rules.

What is PCI DSS?

Let’s start off with the basics, PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s take a closer look at why it’s important for your business to strictly follow these standards.

Data sent via credit and debit cards is very sensitive and needs to be handled carefully. If mishandled, hackers can get a hold of this confidential information to commit credit and debit card fraud! This is why businesses that deal with credit cards are told to comply with these industry standards.

By following these set industry tools and measurements, the correct handling of sensitive data is ensured and the chances of hacks are minimised.

Consequences of Violating the PCI DSS:

While PCI DSS compliance isn’t a law, there are still consequences of violating these standards. First and foremost, the billing company can charge you a hefty sum for not abiding by these standards. Moreover, the bank that handles your account can either terminate your contract with them or impose a higher transaction fees.

All these heavy monetary penalties are in place to encourage more and more businesses to become PCI DSS compliant.

How Do I Comply With PCI DSS?

Recent surveys of the industry shows that because of organisations reluctance to become PSI DSS compliant, the number of security breaches increased from 29 million in 2013 to nearly 43 million in 2014!

Whether you accept MasterCard or Visa or both, in order to make sure that your business is capable of resisting data theft and loss, you need to comply with PCI DSS. This means employing a multi-layered security setup that includes but is not limited to network architecture, software designs, and data encryption, etc.

To people not well-versed in cyber-space security and PCI DSS compliance, this can seem like a tall order. This is where we come in. We know that these standards can be very difficult to adhere to, which is why we offer reliable PCI DSS compliance service and consultation services on the matter!

Once you bring Lean Security on board and ask us to make sure that your business complies with these industry wide standards, you can rest assured knowing that your system will be completely secured! So, not only will you be looked at favourably by the bank and the billing company, but you will also foster trust in your customers!

Furthermore, you shouldn’t think of it as a one-and-done job; we make sure that you know of any changes in these regulations beforehand so that you’re never exposed to cyber-attacks!

Contact us today and let’s work together to make your business more reliable and secure!

The Many Benefits of Network Vulnerability Assessment

In today’s digital age, cyber-attacks are inevitable. Recent numbers posted by Barkly paint a grim picture. 56% of the organisations surveyed were victims of cyber-attacks in 2016 alone.

What’s even more troubling is the fact that these companies still haven’t changed their approach or beefed up cyber-security, which has left them exposed to the possibility of even more attacks in the future!

An easy yet extremely effective way of stopping potential hacks is by opting for Vulnerability Assessment. Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) can go a long way in ensuring that your online presence is as safe as it can be.

Here are a few of the many benefits of vulnerability assessment.

Highlights Vulnerabilities:

As its name suggests, vulnerability assessment highlights the weak points in your cyber-security program. Once a chink in the digital armour has been found, it’s flagged and business owners are informed of the possibility of cyber-attacks.

What’s great about vulnerability assessment and penetration testing is that they make use of publicly available tools to find faults in your system. Therefore, if a security company can find problems, hackers can too. You should act on the vulnerability report as soon as possible!

Prevents Losses:

Losses can cripple a company and induce stress in the employees and the business owner. Therefore, it’s in everyone’s best interest to avoid them as much as possible.

Another reason why we highly recommend making use of Vulnerability Assessment services is because they prevent losses. What’s amazing is that not only does it minimise the possibility of financial losses, but it also stops the loss and leak of confidential data!

Protects Your Brand:

Speaking of data leaks and breaches, vulnerability assessment goes a long way in preserving the image of your brand as it prevents client data from leaking out.

While that may not mean too much to you just recall the Sony hacks of 2014, how it destroyed the company’s reputation, and made people think twice before using the company’s products for months! Sony is a big brand and it eventually bounced back, are you confident of doing the same should hackers target you next?

This is where vulnerability assessment comes into play. By telling you of the faults in your systems beforehand, VAPT provides you with ample time to fortify your online presence, and quell cyber-attacks before they occur!

Best Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing Services:

If you’re looking for the best penetration testing service on the market then you’ve come to the right place. We at Lean Security specialise in cyberspace security and promise to make your security concerns things of the past! We offer penetration testing services for multiple platforms such as web and mobile etc so that you are GUARANTEED protection!

What’s great about our vulnerability assessment services is that we perform both internal and external scans. Our comprehensive vulnerability scans help you stay proactive and enable you to snuff out vulnerabilities before they cause you harm! Furthermore, we also offer total protection against malware attacks which goes a long way in ensuring that your business never suffers.

So what are you waiting for? Call us today and get yourself the cyber-protection that you need and deserve!