W 5 Response (CS)
`A mind once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions`
Due to the advances in technology, over the last decade, the cost of virtual software has far surpassed the value of physical hardware. Hence there is no wonder that most of the hackers had shifted their strategies from just disrupting the services to lower the productivity, to stealing the information and actively seek a financial gain. Though the growth of antivirus and firewalls were improved exponentially attackers have also become very adept in circumventing them. Here I would like to discuss few of the mitigation strategies that can be employed to mitigate those malware effects on organizations.
Firewalls:
The main goal of a firewall is to block all of the external traffic into the organizations intranet and only allow the internal communications. Outside traffic that enters must be explicitly defined in the firewall policies. As firewall is the first line of defense access to itself needs to be strictly controlled.
Intrusion detection systems:
Primary intension of an ideal intrusion detections system is to monitor the network traffic in real time. Best place to locate the IDS is to place them external to the firewall and other, just behind the firewall. Thus the network administrators can monitor the traffic entering the firewall and leaving the firewall.
Authorized local network devices:
Only devices owned by organization should be connected to its own network. Third-party devices always pose an immense threat to the security, so if they are needed to be connected, special exceptions by security expert are needed to be in place.
Email filtering:
Most of the successful breaches on networks are done using emails. So any email containing attachments and malicious links needed to be scanned completely before delivering them. Most famous email leak in the recent days is DNC email leaks, and we all know how devastating it could be for any organization.
References
Conklin and White. Principles of Computer Security, Fourth Edition
Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center and United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team. May 16, 2005