5 IT Security Essentials For Channel Partners In 2016
By Farokh Karani, Director, North America – Sales & Channels, Quick Heal Technologies
What do resellers and managed services providers (MSPs) need to keep top of mind as security threats spiral in 2016? Ongoing vigilance and protection is the only way to stop these threats in their tracks, which is why it’s important to keep pace with new IT security dangers that have recently emerged. At the same time, many existing threats are also expanding and mutating, finding new ways to make their way beyond the corporate firewall.
To help you map out your defenses, the security pros at Quick Heal have compiled a list of the main threats that resellers and MSPs will be up against in 2016, along with best-practice advice on how to tackle them.
1. Mobile Device Headaches.
A full 38 percent of companies expect to stop providing devices to their workforce by 2016. Regardless of who owns the device, mobile malware threats will only escalate. Mobile threat management (MTM) tools can close gaps in network security and will become more important than ever in the reseller’s portfolio — and the customer's IT security stack — in 2016.
As recent Quick Heal research shows, Android devices are particularly vulnerable. The Quick Heal Threat Report covering the third quarter of 2015 found 220 new families of Android malware and 148 new variants of existing Android malware, much of which creeps into corporate networks because employees are downloading unapproved/untested mobile apps.
MTM tools provide an important first line of defense, and can block malicious websites, unknown phone numbers, unwanted or unsolicited calls and text messages, and even spam. These tools should include strong encryption to protect sensitive customer or employee data as it is gathered and stored.
What To Do
Mobile threat management should no longer be an afterthought for you or your customers. The proliferation of mobile devices in the business world means MTM must now serve a primary role in your security portfolio. The good news is that the fragile security world enveloping mobile devices offers channel companies wonderful opportunities to sell cloud-enabled MTM tools, along with backup, managed security and 24/7 service and support.
2. IoT Invites DDoS Attacks
The Internet of Things (IoT) obviously represents a great leap forward in computing, but the security challenges associated with it are almost beyond comprehension. With more devices interconnected, it’s no surprise that IoT networks give criminals more opportunities to penetrate the network and create a critically damaging botnet. That’s why many experts believe the IoT technology transformation will bring a greater number of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
The situation is further compounded by the fact that many IoT devices have very poor security authorization methods, paving the way to weak passwords. Another problem: Many IoT systems use unencrypted network services, which expose users to identity and data theft. Over the past few years, the number and frequency of these attacks have been rising, and in 2016, that trend will continue.
What To Do
Resellers and MSPs can capitalize on the challenges of IoT by helping their customers create risk assessment strategies, and implementing robust 24/7 DDoS mitigation solutions.
3. Windows 10 Issues
The Quick Heal Q3 threat report also found millions of new threats for Windows users in the third quarter of 2015, with Trojans forming the most popular threat vehicle for criminals. The silver lining is that Windows 10 includes more effective security features, such as “Device Guard,” which automatically blocks zero-day attacks. Another feature, “Windows Hello,” offers biometric support to reduce user reliance on traditional passwords — turning instead to the use of irises, facial recognition, or fingerprints.
Privacy protection has also been a big part of the Win 10 discussion. Much of the early concerns revolved around the default privacy option, which sends users’ calendars and contact information to Microsoft, and assigns each user an advertising ID for tracking the person’s Internet movements and physical locations. This default option even allows Microsoft to track a user’s keystrokes.
What To Do
Channel companies should advise their customers to adopt Win 10 carefully, working to assist them in making effective use of the new security features while customizing their privacy settings to avoid any pitfalls. With Gartner recently predicting that the OS will set new records in enterprise migration for Microsoft, anticipating that half of the enterprise market will deploy it by 2017, it behooves the IT channel to pay attention to all things Win 10, especially security.
4. Ransomware On The Rise
Going into 2016, ransomware malware will remain a key challenge for the IT security world. These attacks make an infected system unusable by locking the screen or system, encrypting the data on the system and then demanding a ransom to unlock and decrypt this data. They are capable of causing significant system downtime, loss of critical data, intellectual property (IP) theft and more. In several industries, a ransomware attack is now considered on par with a significant data breach. One of the most consistently seen ransomware samples has been Cryptowall 3.0. Also emerging are “drive-by” ransomware threats, in which computers can get infected when users click on a compromised website.
What To Do
Employee/user education is the first line of defense against ransomware. Help your clients implement effective security training with their employees. Advise them on how to detect the primary sources for ransomware, which include suspicious emails, pop-up messages, websites and more, and to avoid downloading software from unknown sites. Also, make sure your clients’ AV software is updated and current, and that all their OS and web browsers are set up for automated patches. Strong passwords and regular system backups are also critical.
- . Spear Phishing Sophistication
Over the past few years, spear phishing attacks via highly targeted email messages have been the primary cause of high-profile data breaches. More than 90 percent of attacks on enterprise networks have used spear phishing — a trend that led to the growth of sandbox-based gateway appliances.
These appliances use advanced malware detection for incoming emails. They work by processing each incoming email attachment, dropping it into a secure virtual environment (or sandbox) and scrutinizing it for threats.
However, in the past year or so cybercriminals have begun designing malware specifically to avoid these appliances. This new class of malware breaches the network and get into users’ inboxes without anybody noticing. Needless to say, 2016 will see more of this kind of highly sophisticated threat.
What To Do
As with ransomware, resellers and MSPs can start by educating their clients’ employees about the harsh realities of falling victim to a spear phishing attack. One click can lead to dangerous consequences. Secondly, it’s important for the channel to cover the entire network, all endpoints, all mobile devices, and all applications with security solutions — thereby working to prevent attacks before they happen.
The best advice as 2016 begins is to perform regular security audits for your clients, train their employees on best practices to safeguard their data and the network, and above all, advise them to maintain multiple layers/multiple levels of security protection. These layers may include AV, application monitoring, content/Web filtering and data loss prevention (DLP).
Lastly, be vigilant from a global perspective. Threats that are emerging on other continents may eventually pose a potential threat in your region of the world as well. And remember that no organization is too big — or too small — to fail. That's why counseling your clients to seek out and make use of your expertise is imperative. Turning to third-party experts can help them ensure they’re not operating in a vacuum, and that they’re covering all the essential IT security bases and beyond.
Farokh Karani is director of North American Sales & Channels for Quick Heal Technologies, a global provider of IT security solutions. Quick Heal’s SEQRITE data security product line is specifically targeted at small to midsize enterprises and is sold in North America exclusively through channel partners.