Cyber-Secure: Why Your Passwords Matter More Than You Think

As you might have recently seen in the news, the EU has rolled out new laws for business about conforming to new security standards. This is called GDPR, General Data Protection Regulation. This has now become a VERY crucial aspect of our daily lives and a very important law that businesses need to conform to from now on.

These regulations specify how data must be used and processed within a company. Data MUST be kept private and stored securely. Of course, should there be any data leaks, there will be consequences resulting in a high amount of a fine or even having a company close its doors for business. The EU has taken this very seriously for the safety of clients and customers.

How does Innovo Networks form a part of this? Well, we are proud to announce that we are a GDPR regulated company and we follow the new procedures to protect our clients and customers personal data to the best of our abilities. We strive to prevent any data leaks and we follow very secure internal processes to help protect data.

Our cyber-security solutions are there to help you! These solutions are here to help protect other businesses and even to help them conform to these standards as well. Where do we start? We\`ll start with the face of the company, the website. We offer the ultimate robust penetration testing to securely arm and protect the business from any threat or cyber-attack!

Respond swiftly to cyberthreats! Assess your cybersecurity defenses and gain visibility of threats. Develop a proactive cybersecurity approach to predict, detect, and identify cyberthreats. Organizations struggle to keep up with the constant barrage of cyberattacks. Our penetration testing and incident response services help you identify cybersecurity weaknesses and prepare your response to a potential cyberthreat. Combined with our managed service offerings, we can provide notification of known attacks and threats before they reach you. We help your organization develop a better response to cyberthreats.

What do we offer in real-time threat management-as-a-service? With our innovative solutions like WebArx, we provide a 24/7, real-time security event management and monitoring, powerful correlation, and threat analysis of your most critical assets for your website. This is where the security starts, these are the first steps in securing your website.

Once your website is secure, that is the second step to a more protected business! No one will be able to access any of your information or data via the website. After our tests, there will be no gaps or loop holes that hackers can feed on to destroy the site and steal personal data from either the company, employees or customers!

Besides for our penetration testing, we offer secure end point protection as well, along with email management, web app assessments and the ultimate firewalls for any type of business! With Innovo Networks, you can arm your business with the best in class industry leading cyber-security solutions at the most affordable pricing option ever!

But you might be wondering, what do we test? How does penetration testing work? What is it? Is it really that important? Well, an organization should conduct a risk assessment before the penetration test, which will identify the main threats to the network, including the following:

• Communications failure, e-commerce failure, and loss of confidential information

• Public systems: Web sites, e-mail gateways, and remote-access platforms

• Mail, DNS, firewalls, passwords, FTP, IIS, and Web servers

• Important production systems

• Systems belonging to important as well as regular customers

• Testing should be performed on all hardware and software components of the network security system

So, what makes Innovo Networks a good penetration testing company? The following activities will ensure a good penetration test:

• Establishing the parameters for the penetration test, such as objectives, limitations, and justifications of the procedures

• Hiring highly skilled and experienced professionals

• Appointing a legal penetration tester who follows the rules in the nondisclosure agreement

• Choosing a suitable set of tests that balances costs and benefits

• Following a methodology with proper planning and documentation

• Documenting the results carefully and making them comprehensible for the client. The penetration tester must be available to answer any queries whenever there is a need.

• Clearly stating findings and recommendations in the final report

Still not quite understanding what we do? Well, we have prepared a few terms that you can read through to get a better understanding of what we do, and how we do it.

Passive research: Passive research is normally carried out during the start of an external penetration test and provides information on the configuration of the organization's system by using public-domain sources such as the following:

• DNS (Domain Name Service)

• USENET (newsgroups)

• ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers)

Network mapping and OS fingerprinting: Network mapping and OS fingerprinting provide an overview of the configuration of the entire network being tested. These techniques are designed to specify different types of services present on the target system.

Spoofing: Spoofing is the act of using one machine to pretend to be another. Spoofing techniques are used in both internal and external penetration testing to access computers that are configured to reply only to specific computers.

Network sniffing: Sniffing techniques are used to capture data as it travels across a network. Sniffed data packets may help a tester analyse traffic connections and data flow across a network. Network sniffing is usually performed as a part of internal penetration testing, as it is very easy to capture data packets from within a network.

Trojan attack: Trojans are malicious code or programs that are usually sent to a network as e-mail attachments or transferred via chat rooms. A penetration test attempts to send specially crafted Trojans to a network.

Brute-force attack: A brute-force attack is the most commonly known password-cracking method; the attacker basically tries to use all possible character combinations to crack the password effectively. It can overload a system and possibly stop it from responding to legal requests.

Vulnerability scanning: Vulnerability scanning is a comprehensive examination of the targeted areas of an organization's network infrastructure. It is performed with automated tools that test a large number of weaknesses present in the system against known database vulnerabilities and security holes. It provides hands-on tools to network administrators that can be used to identify vulnerabilities before an attacker exploits them.

Scenario analysis: This final phase of testing makes risk assessment of vulnerabilities much more accurate.

That\`s enough big words. We are sure you must be wondering, what are the benefits? Why Innovo? Well, here are the advantages of using Innovo Networks for Penetration Testing

• We follow and exceed requirements of OSSTMM, CHECK, and OWASP.

• We have experienced security professionals, holding recognized certifications such as CISSP, OSCP and ECH.

• Our staff can distinguish and articulate between infrastructure and application testing

• We have supplier relationships with recognized contributors within the security industry

Responsibilities of a Penetration tester

Tester some of the critical responsibilities of a penetration tester are as follows:

• Performing penetration testing and risk assessment of the target system

• Presenting reports to superiors regarding the efficiency of penetration tests and risk assessments, and making proposals for risk mitigation

• Interfacing with user groups to understand their security needs

• Exploiting the system vulnerabilities and justifying the vulnerabilities found

• Clearly defining the goals of the penetration test, ensuring superior quality, and effectively communicating the results

• Understanding the security of the organization's servers, network systems, and firewalls relevant to specific business risks

Innovo Networks can be reached on 021 811 3333 or info@innovonet.co.za

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