Efficient cybersecurity relies on one major commandment: prevention. Just like the physical world, prevention is better than cure and in the case of the cyber world, having the proper defence in place goes a long way in securing an enterprise network. Of course, in this day and age where almost everything is on the cloud, cyber criminals have even bigger motives to hack into systems and they need just one opportunity. This is where those in charge of an enterprise’s security apparatus must be continuously in sync with cybersecurity trends, continuously preparing and planning in advance.
One key way this preparation can be put into action is by monitoring network activity. A report observed that it takes most companies more than six months to detect data breaches. That is a frightening amount of time for an activity which is extremely dangerous. As the number of high-profile data breaches all over the world, companies are increasingly more and more vulnerable to this form of criminal activity, leading to disastrous consequences.
However, vigilant administrators are able to detect the warning signs and irregular patterns earlier and take necessary action. Here’s a primer on what to look out for and what to do:
Surge in network activity
An unexplained network activity should have an administrator ask tough questions. For starters, they need to check their Intrusion Detection System and identify more details. When is the surge of network activity happening? Is it happening during off-hours? Is it coming through one particular source? Getting to the bottom of some of these questions will help understand whether there is something going wrong.
Mail activity
If there is a rise in activity to clicks to suspicious email servers, it is a cause of concern. It could very well be an attempt at phishing or even worse, ransomware. It could also point to a concerted spam attack which could lead to resource wastage on an enterprise network.
System activity
A modus operandi for many hackers is to take control of a system and use it for malicious activities. At times, those who use the compromised system may not even realize that it has been compromised. However, compromised systems can exhibit unnaturally high data and bandwidth usage which network activity monitors can track and identify.
For real-time monitoring of network activity, it is important to invest in a network security solution which ticks all the boxes. In this case, Seqrite’s Unified Threat Management (UTM) is a great investment. With an array of features, it provides a one-stop solution for all enterprise security needs.
Some of UTM’s key features are:
Gateway Mail Protection
The Gateway Mail Protection scans inbound and outbound email messages and attachments. The in-built spam filter runs a series of tests on inbound email messages to help block spam and phishing attacks.
Content Filtering
This feature allows websites to be filtered and a whitelist of URLs and domains that can be accessed to be created. Similar blacklists can also be created. Hence, unnecessary load on enterprise bandwidth can be lessened by restricting access to unwanted traffic.
Bandwidth Management
This feature optimizes bandwidth by allocation of bandwidth, on the basis of usage groups.
Load Balancing
Multiple ISPs can be used by Seqrite UTM through this feature. Traffic is balanced across multiple ISP lines based on weightage and priority.
IT Policy & Management
Comprehensive logging and reporting is provided with a user-friendly web configuration.
Apart from the abovementioned ones, there are other features as well which make Unified Threat Management (UTM) a great solution for spotting unusual activity on your enterprise network. It offers a safe working environment with high productivity and regulatory compliance through a cost-effective bundled solution.
As an IT security partner for your business, Seqrite provides comprehensive security from advanced cyber threats. To know more
