Digital technologies have enormous potential for cost reduction. Therefore they are becoming an essential element in improving business competitiveness. However, their introduction leads to an increase in cyber threats.
The main problem for the management of a particular organization
Almost every company, without regard for the form of its ownership, the volume and nature of production or the services provided, is concerned about the preservation of confidential data. Preventing data leakage today is practically the main problem for the management of a particular organization, regardless of its location.
The methods of fighting for information security, used by modern leaders, are still not effective enough. Signing agreements to keep confidential corporate information secret cannot always be called a deterrent. Restricting access to financial and technical data works is of course much better, but it still does not bring the necessary results. Ensuring information security is highly essential firstly for corporations with a complex, geographically distributed, multi-level structure, such as large banks, transnational and state-owned companies.
Often, corporate networks of such organizations are built using equipment from different generations and from different manufacturers, which significantly complicates the IT system management process. Besides, information structures of corporations are heterogeneous. They consist of various bases, sets of distributed and local systems. This makes corporate-level resources particularly vulnerable.
In the process of data exchange between users of the organization and the outside world, networks may be affected by malicious programs that destroy databases and transfer information to third parties. According to experts, the most severe danger for the IT infrastructure today are viruses, spyware and adware, spam and phishing attacks such as “denial of service”, the substitution of the main page of the Internet resource and social engineering.
Moreover, the source of threats can be both external users and employees (often unintentionally). The implementation of malicious algorithms can lead to paralysis of the system and its failures, as well as to the loss, substitution or leakage of information. All this is fraught with a huge image, time and financial losses for the company.
Thus, the main tasks of any information security system are:
- ensuring the availability of data for authorized users – the ability to quickly receive information services
- guarantee the integrity of information – its relevance and security from unauthorized changes or destruction
- ensuring the confidentiality of information
Requirements for data protection in computer networks:
- the use of licensed hardware and software
- inspection of information objects for compliance with regulatory requirements for security
- drawing up a list of permissible software applications and a ban on the use of funds that are not included in this list
- use and timely update of antivirus programs, conducting regular verifications of computers for malware infection
- development of methods of prevention to prevent viruses from entering the network
- development of means for storing and recovering infected software
Reliable information protection can be provided only by using an integrated approach, which implies the simultaneous use of hardware, software and cryptographic tools (none of these tools alone is reliable enough). Such method provides for the analysis and optimization of the entire system, rather than its parts, which ensures a balance of characteristics, while the improvement of some parameters often leads to the deterioration of others.
