Today all businesses need to remain vigilant, particularly with respect to internet security. The set and forget mentality from the 1990s and early 2000s has had its day. Here are a few healthcare tips for your IT security from our team to kick off 2018.
Whatever you do, don’t open email attachments from people you don’t know!
To a certain extent this was Internet security in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In between now and then Internet speeds have increased quite sharply from when dial-up speeds were the norm as well as there being greater business and personal use of the Internet.
In parallel to increased usage and speeds, the volume and complexity of Internet threats have increased dramatically. The landscape continues to evolve, with new methods and delivery of these internet threats occurring rapidly. Many of these threats are designed to disrupt your business to the extent where productivity is virtually non-existent, and in some cases your data is held to ransom.
To protect users and their data, we’ve seen the use of Desktop and Server Antivirus software become mandatory, spam filters extended to prevent email based viruses and malware, and in more recent years a shift towards perimeter level scanning for malicious content as traffic passes in between the Public Internet and Internal Networks.
The days of placing a rudimentary device with no concept of high level security between business networks and the Internet are drawing to a close, arguably we are already well past that point. One might even argue that this scenario exists in home environments as well.
What type of device should I be purchasing to secure my Business Network from all these Internet based threats?
Diamond recommend the use of a FortiGate Next Generation Firewall from Fortinet.
With these devices we can:
- Scan for viruses and malware as traffic passes between your environment and the Internet
- Filter web content deemed inappropriate for business environments or in some cases used to sneak some form of malicious software onto your computers
- Prevent the use of peer-to-peer file sharing software such, also known as Torrent software, commonly used to obtain pirated movies and tv shows, but also commonly used to try and install rogue malicious software on computers
- Block the use of third party proxy services used to attempt to bypass Internet filtering mechanisms
- Utilise Cloud based “sandbox” technology where files and content are run through the sandbox to detect any suspicious behaviour which may not be detected by standard antivirus and antimalware scanning
How do we continue to keep your networks protected?
Here at Diamond we use a standardised setup process for implementing FortiGate devices on the perimeter of your network. This standard process does evolve in response to the shifting landscape over time, with incremental improvements being added to our process.
For existing installs, our TechOps team as part of their ongoing work to improve standards on our Customer’s IT systems, will introduce these incremental improvements post-sale.
How can Diamond help?
With the set and forget mentality now behind us, all businesses need to remain proactive and vigilant, particularly with respect to security. For expert IT security recommendations, call us today on 1300 307 907 or simply complete the form below.
