News
The Washington Network Leverages
State-of-the-Art Cyber Security Techniques and Tools to Protect Customers
Leading Expert in Cyber Security Secures SMB
Networks
Alexandria,
VA — April 20, 2017 – The Washington Network, Inc., a leading provider of unified communications, announced today that the
company is leveraging state-of-the-art cyber security techniques and tools to
protect customers from cyber attacks that have become a daily occurrence in the
small to mid-sized business marketplace. The company has been at the forefront
of cyber security for many years and has taken their expertise to an entirely
new level, well beyond their competition. The
Washington Network protects businesses from several key cyber security
threats.
The first threat facing organizations
is phishing. Phishing is essentially, using fake links to lure users into
offering up sensitive information, by posing as an authority. Hackers can embed
malicious links into emails, attachments or images, which usually lead to
another page that requests the sensitive information, which will later be used
against the user. One of the most creative ways hackers have found to attack
SMBs is to call in and impersonate IT staff or Network Administrators, asking
for specific information off the employee’s computer to resolve a potential
“virus.” The employee will usually comply and supply the information, giving
the hacker the exact keys they need to infiltrate the system.
The next area of concern is mobile
security. As web traffic continues to migrate from PC to mobile, hackers have
followed suit by redirecting their efforts to mobile attacks, as well. At an
organization, whereby users are encouraged to BYOD (bring-your-own-device) to
the network, this increases the exposure for network attack exponentially. SMBs
need to be on the lookout for attacks from third party apps, mobile malware and
unsecured public Wi-Fi locations. For example, employees will use their phone
at an unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot to work but they won’t realize that the network
is rigged to enable hackers with easy access to sensitive apps, data and
information on any phones connected to that particular unsecured Wi-Fi hotspot.
In many cases, users will be attacked without even realizing that the attack
has happened.
The last area for an SMB to monitor is
malvertising. This threat is where hackers embed malware within advertisements,
landing pages or even directly on reputable websites. Sites that offer
advertising on a massive scale, such as Facebook, have a tough time regulating
online security throughout the buying process. Facebook can do its best to
ensure that the links on Facebook aren’t malicious; however, they have no
access to monitoring the pages that those advertisements lead to, once the user
has left Facebook. Malvertisers can embed a code on an advertisement which
leads to a dummy checkout page or a fake application page, which phishes all of
the sensitive information that the hacker needs to launch an attack.
“These threats all point to the
importance of SMBs consulting with an expert in the cyber security field,”
stated RickEndres, President at The Washington Network. “We are well-equipped
to deal with threats like these, in addition to the new threats that will
undoubtedly arise over the coming years. For any business that leverages
technology as one of its key productivity drivers, it pays to have a team like The Washington Network to face the hackers of
the world.”