When hackers broke into the Democratic National Committee’s servers this summer to steal private emails and campaign correspondence -- it revealed a rather unsettling reality: spies and hackers have the means to avoid detection from traditional security solutions. Symantec, a trusted security provider, shared this sentiment. After decades of creating antivirus solutions, the security provider stated that antivirus software alone does not guarantee full network security in a world where cyber threats are constantly evolving.
Antivirus software isn’t a magic pill; while it does a decent job detecting known malware by matching its digital signatures with a signature database, by no means does this bulletproof your organization’s systems from new strains of malware. In fact, earlier this year The New York Times and other major news websites were hit by a malicious advertising attack, which inadvertently attempted to install “ransomware” on user devices. Our point is, businesses need a more comprehensive cyber security system, and believing that antivirus products alone can achieve that is a colossal mistake. To drive the point even further, here are more reasons why antivirus software is necessary but not sufficient to protect against every cyber threat.
It acts as a cure
The biggest problem with antivirus programs is they are reactive, meaning they only alert you of a malware infection once it has already penetrated your system. Think of antivirus products like a vaccine. When new malware emerges, a signature is created to register and nullify the threat. This signature is then ‘injected’ into all users who possess the same antivirus software, greatly reducing the chances of spreading the infection.
However, this means that someone has to be infected before a vaccine can be developed. Therefore, the first few users who encounter a new strain of malware do not have any protection available to them. Plus, thousands of malware strains are concocted every day, so antivirus companies need to produce the same number of signatures to defend against the threat. In many cases, by the time the victim has realized there is something wrong with their system, it’s already too late for the antivirus software to respond.
Increasing complexity of malware
Even though sophisticated antivirus software from Symantec and Sophos detect suspicious behaviour from potentially malicious software, hackers can still find ways to circumvent these features. In fact, all they have to do is test their malware on a computer with antivirus software to see if their exploit code can be detected. If it can be detected, the hacker simply has to alter the malicious code so that it can bypass their target’s security system.
As far as network security systems go, antivirus technology is simply getting outmatched by advanced cyber attacks. For example, hackers use ransomware to encrypt their target’s data and threaten to release or sell it to the black market unless the company pays a bitcoin ransom. Ransomware also encrypts at the moment of infection, meaning antivirus software can’t do much to defend against the cyber threat. Without a data backup strategy in place, companies will either have to pay the ransom or risk losing business-sensitive data. According to a report from Cisco Systems, ransomware has netted approximately $34 million annually from several victims. This implies that not only is ransomware a fruitful exploit, but it proves that new generation malware is incredibly skilled at infiltrating an organization’s endpoint security systems undetected.
Social engineering
Like it or not, there are countless other ways for hackers to acquire your company’s information without creating malicious software. Even with reliable antivirus solutions in place, businesses will likely encounter social engineering attacks in the form of suspicious links and phishing scams. For example, seemingly legitimate emails can potentially be a phishing scam luring you to reveal sensitive information about yourself and your business. Popup ads offering get-rich-quick schemes are most likely phishing scams as well.
Whatever the method, as long as a hacker can leverage your trust and get you to provide confidential information, they have no need to bypass antivirus security in the first place. In this case, users will need email security solutions to protect against social engineering attempts.
A false sense of security
The impulse to rely on antivirus products is understandable, but this can be dangerous if you forget to practice safe internet behavior. The biggest offence is setting easily guessable passwords for services you’ve signed up for. Quite recently, John Hanke, the CEO of Niantic and Pokemon Go creator, set his Twitter password to “nopass”. As you’d expect, he was easily hacked because of his generic password. Your employees are probably guilty of these offences as well, and you should remember that two-factor authentication and password management should be set up across as many services as possible.
With so many cyber threats to business looming just around the corner, antivirus software is a good place to start. But an organization is in for a rude awakening when antivirus is their only approach to safeguarding their network. In fact, it’s almost guaranteed that a company will face much more than just run-of-the-mill malware. The real cyber threat is constantly evolving. That’s why the technologies we use to ward off these threats must evolve beyond antivirus technologies.
Setting up network security for your business can be daunting, especially when considering the broad array of advanced security features. The team at IntelligISTM can assess your systems and develop network security solutions that go above and beyond an antivirus-only approach. Contact us today at www.intelligis.com to find out how you can best protect your business
