The us ban on the use of a default password for IoT devices is an exemplary step in these difficult times when the entire virtual landscape is at the risk of a security breach. The severity can be understood in terms of the amount of money lost to hackers in 2018 that is a whopping sum of more than $654 billion globally. It indicates the winning streak of attackers that have beaten down all efforts of making the internet safer. It’s not that the security strategies are incompetent against the advanced methods that attackers use, it’s just that people fail to realize that every single device on the internet is hackable, and thus, requires protection. If you want to protect your business and users from such threats, then you must adopt all the strategies – not just one – listed below.
- Password
Let the backdoor password of every single system in a network and every single account be different.
- The password should have at least 8-12 characters
- Characters should incorporate letters, symbols, as well as numbers
- Firewall and Antivirus
Firewall and antivirus are virtual security tools that can protect your devices from malware and viruses. The firewall guards the system against infiltrators and antivirus, on the other hand, protects the system from viruses from different sources – emails and external devices.
- Firebreaks
Putting breaks on the information is one way of limiting the damage. You can achieve that by building different networks and storing some bits of information/network instead of storing all of it together, at one place. It halts malware to spread throughout the company since all networks are independent.
- Bug Removal
No matter what quality of the software you download, it will have bugs. Thus, adopt as many strategies as possible to keep removing bugs.
- Install software updates
- Do not use pirated software versions
- Run bounty programs and find ethical hackers to find and report bugs in your software
- Run testing scans in the cloud
- MFA and Lockout Techniques
Use unique identification tricks like MFA and two-factor authentication where a user has to clear multiple identification screenings to get access to a system/account.
Lockout feature, on the other hand, restricts any user from logging into an account/device after a number of failed attempts. You are notified that someone tried logging into your account. If it isn’t you, you can always reset the password.
