Computer Security: Staying Ahead of the Bad Guys

Keeping computers safe from attacks over the Internet can be an overwhelming task. A company which has just one or two people to run IT will rarely have the expertise to keep up. New threats emerge every day. Just when you think they can’t get any more devious, they do something no one had thought of before. Cybersecurity is a specialty in itself.

Networks have grown more complicated. Even simple ones often involve workstations, Wi-Fi, smartphones, and cloud services. Telecommuters connect from their homes or phones. Every endpoint is part of the attack surface.

New trends are constantly emerging. One of the latest is stealing raw computing power to “mine” cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. This would be perfectly legal, except that it uses other people’s computers for free, dragging down their performance and increasing their power bills.

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Old threats often get worse. In 2017, ransomware cost at least $5 billion, up from $325 million the year before. Payment of extortion demands and losses due to disrupted business contributed to this total.

The Need for the Specialist

Security specialists stay informed about the latest threats and the ways to stop them. A combination of techniques is necessary; no single approach will give complete protection. They need to understand network architecture, individual computers, encryption, and social engineering. They have to review news about the latest threats and find out when remedies are available.

The best way to get the necessary expertise is often to hire a managed service provider. That way, a team that includes specialized experts can pay attention to every customer’s security needs. The provider can make sure all software gets updated when patches are released. It can advise customers of new tricks that they have to guard against.

Without people who make computer security their full-time job, a business’s computers don’t get the same level of protection. The specialist makes everyone’s systems safer.