Today’s database-driven websites are a magnet for hackers looking breach your systems. WordPress alone powers 28 percent of websites. Thankfully, there’s a jewel of insight hidden within your database performance data, making this often-overlooked metric important for several reasons. Not only does it determine resource availability, but also it can bring critical information about the state of database security into clear view. This little-known and under-used security tactic does not get the fanfare it deserves when it comes to mitigating your risk. Yet understanding it is essential to diagnosing your vulnerabilities and preventing data breaches. So, what does your database performance data tell you? DEVIATION IS BAD It turns out that performance and security are intertwined. To protect your company’s databases, you need to develop a detailed understanding of how it typically operates. Once you understand baseline performance, you can monitor your network more effectively—and IT staff can identify any deviation from normal patterns, which may indicate a data breach. NORMALIZATION IS GOOD When it comes to knowing the performance metrics relevant to security, focus on a specific set of database performance metric to identify normal performance parameters. This will form the framework for your cybersecurity system and should include: CPU and memory: If processing unit and memory performance data spikes unexpectedly, that could be a sign that malware is infecting machines on your network. When you know the typical range for CPU and memory utilization, you can identify outliers. Data storage volume: You should know how much data storage you are currently using. When events occur that drastically change data storage, the IT staff should know about them ahead of time. If monitors observe a dramatic increase or decrease in total data storage which can indicate a data breach. Threat actors may delete or duplicate massive amounts of files. Also watch out for the unauthorized transfer of data between different locations on your servers. Network bandwidth utilization: A noticeable shift in network bandwidth utilization patterns is often a sign that a data breach is underway. The IT team should understand the normal parameters of network bandwidth utilization so that anomalous patterns
can be identified quickly. There are many tools available to help track this data: NetFlow, sFlow, and J-Flow. BEST PRACTICES ARE YOUR “BEST” PROTECTION Once you’re armed with some baseline knowledge, you can take steps to improve security with these best practices: Conduct an inventory of which departments and individuals have access to sensitive data and how that data can be accessed (i.e. Which devices and applications can access data?) Determine how your company documents compliance regulatory and audit purposes. Establish a security policy and distribute it throughout the company. Offer all employees comprehensive cybersecurity training. Implement cybersecurity solutions that will inform the IT team when key performance metrics deviate from standard parameters. Develop response plans when performance abnormalities trigger alerts and make sure everyone on the team understands them. Review performance data on a regular basis and at least once a week. As your company evolves, your baseline performance metrics will also change. When optimizing data security using data performance metrics, it can help to consult with an industry expert who understands database security and can offload management tasks from your internal IT staff. CloudIBN offers a range of database consulting services. Contact us for a database assessment.
The number of email domains using Domain based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance is expected to skyrocket by 2020.
This is due to the fact that the vast majority of these domains have no policy regarding unauthenticated emails.DMARC – ONE SOLUTION TO MANY PROBLEMSDMARC is an email authentication protocol that helps in the protection of an email domain against threat actors that spoof it and send emails on your behalf.
As a result, protecting it from cyber criminals is essential, as cyber criminals may spoof your email domains and use them to carry out malicious activities.
Moreover, it may harm your company's client relationships, business reach, and credibility.DMARC basically monitors two email authentication protocols – Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM).
These authentication protocols have 3 basic purposes – Ensuring that the sender’s emails are secured by both key authentication standards, SPF and DKIM.Sending out orders to receiving mail servers in the situation when neither of the authentication methods passes.Giving a path to the receiving server to revert the sender about messages that pass or fail the DMARC assessmentThese are the reasons why DMARC should be implemented to secure your email domain.
The lack of or absence of email domain security can result in the organization's business reach being stifled.
The global Ransomware Protection market focuses on encompassing major statistical evidence for the Ransomware Protection industry as it offers our readers a value addition on guiding them in encountering the obstacles surrounding the market.
A comprehensive addition of several factors such as global distribution, manufacturers, market size, and market factors that affect the global contributions are reported in the study.Ransomware is malicious software that infects the victim's computer and displays messages demanding a fee to be paid in order for the victim's system to work again.
In April 2020, IT managed services firm Cognizant suffered a ransomware attack purportedly conducted by threat actors behind Maze ransomware, according to a report by BleepingComputer.
This software ensures that the process of system restoration is proper and secured.
What's Trending in Market:Advent of Crypto-Currencies for Ransom PaymentsChallenges:Lack of Awareness Among Security Professionals About New Ransomware FamiliesRise in Average Ransom AmountRestraints:Availability of Free Endpoint Security Solutions for Ransomware ProtectionMarket Growth Drivers:Increasing Number of Phishing Attacks and Targeted Security BreachesEmergence of Ransomware-As-A-Service ModelThe Ransomware Protection market study further highlights the segmentation of the Ransomware Protection industry on a global distribution.
The report focuses on regions of LATAM, North America, Europe, Asia, and the Rest of the World in terms of developing market trends, preferred marketing channels, investment feasibility, long term investments, and business environmental analysis.
Recently Twitter discovered that the Firefox browser is using its features to store user data for more than usual time.
Twitter alerted its users who were using the Firefox browser to access their account with a short notice.The notice was something like this: Important details for Firefox users, we have lately got to know that Mozilla Firefox browsers are storing cached data in a certain way that can result in private details being unintentionally saved on the browser’s cache.The above message is a subtle notice and warning for the Firefox users that have accessed their Twitter account using the browser.
Now their private details are likely to be in the danger zone.
But exactly what has happened is a bit confusing in the notice provided by Twitter.Twitter Reveals Data Cache Exploitation Issue with Privacy and SecurityTwitter found a problem with the way Firefox browsers are saving cached data.
This can stay in the browser cache for about seven days and post that the data will be removed as per Firefox’s cache retention policy.The privacy issue is hidden in those 7 days in which your account data is exposed to cyber attackers and can be accessed via tools certainly search through Firebox caches to look for details that were left by the users unintentionally.If the sensitive information was left open by you on Firefox, then even after logging out, it will stay vulnerable to the potential risks.
The risk gets even worst when someone of Twitter users accesses their account on Firefox users on public or shared devices.Twitter stated that Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Apple Safari browsers don’t have any of these issues.
Office 365 Unlicensed Error :Microsoft Office 365 has become an application that we cannot do without.
And yes, it is indeed one of the best parts of the Microsoft operating system that allows you to access many applications like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint that help you carry out your work efficiently.However, most of us often overlook the fact that Office 365 is a licensed product that needs to be renewed in order to continue using it.
And how do we find out if the license has expired?
It’s mostly through the Office 365 unlicensed error message that pops up on our screen.
Are you curious to learn more about the Office 365 unlicensed error, its causes, and how to resolve it?
Well then, keep reading.Office supportWhen does the Office 365 Error Occur?The office 365 unlicensed error occurs when your office 365 subscription expires, and the application becomes unlicensed.
Moscow's 'sovereign internet' effort means new rules for the bad guys too
Black Hat The introduction of Russia's Sovereign Internet rules is having an impact on the way criminal hackers around the world do business.
The rule would lead to Russia developing its own standalone network that could be cut off from all connections outside of the country if need be and continue to function.
"It creates this infrastructure that kind of isolates Russia a little bit," Charity Wright, a threat intelligence analyst with IntSights, told The Register.
"A lot of outsiders feel threatened because they feel they may not have access to the Russian internet, but really Russia's intention is to become sovereign over their own infrastructure so if there is an attack to cut them off, they can go on with business as usual."
While the Russian government is notorious for turning a blind eye to criminal hackers (and in some cases even enlisting them for official activities), the new law will still have a major impact on how cybercrime is conducted both within and outside the country.
