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FEATURE: CYBERSECURITY
The configuration
mistakes that
provide field
days for hackers
There’s no escaping the
fact that many modern
cyberthreats are incredibly
sophisticated and difficult to
prevent. But there are steps
that enterprises can take to
stop hackers leveraging some
of the preventable mistakes
that can leave organisations
at risk. Tim Bandos, Vice
President of Cybersecurity at
Digital Guardian, details the top
five configuration gaffes that
organisations must avoid to
reduce threat exposure.
www.intelligentcio.com
S
ometimes it’s the little things. In hindsight, more often
than not, getting hacked can stem from a minor misstep or
completely preventable mistake. Common security mistakes
and overlooked misconfigurations can open the door for
malware or attackers, potentially leaving your environment and any
exposed data ripe for the picking. Avoid these top five configuration
gaffes to reduce the threat exposure to your organisation.
Default credentials
It almost seems too obvious to include here but leaving default
usernames and passwords unconfigured for databases, installations
and devices, by far, is one of the most common and easy items for a
hacker to exploit.
Leaving default credentials on network devices such as firewalls, routers
or even operating systems, allows adversaries to simply use password
checking scanners to walk right in. In more skilled set-ups, hackers
can simply stage a series of scripted attacks geared at brute forcing
devices by focusing on either default usernames and passwords, or basic
passwords like ‘qwerty’ or ‘12345’.
INTELLIGENTCIO
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