A look at IT vulnerabilities of the big UK companies

If your employees use mobile devices at work it is essential that they are encrypted and protected from hackers.

Today many UK businesses use smartphones to facilitate the everyday running of their operations. With more and more businesses using smartphones, cyber criminals have turned their attention from desktop hacking to mobile hacking.

Large businesses in the UK now consider smartphones as posing the largest security threat to their operations. This has led them to come up with strict policies and comprehensive protective solutions in order to keep data safe. Companies can now invest in on-device anti-malware applications, SSL VPN clients and central monitoring tools.

A rise in the number of employees working remotely has also led companies to create central control systems that enable administrators to locate, lock, wipe, back-up and restore devices that have been lost or stolen.

Malware

Despite all of the security solutions UK businesses use to protect their IT systems, some still struggle to battle against the rise in malware. New malicious software is being developed to disturb IT operations and gather confidential information.

This year many UK businesses have been concentrating on protecting their mobile technology from malware threats. It is essential that businesses make use of the latest malware patches in order to keep their company data and customer information safe.

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Data breaches

Last year, data from well-known companies was compromised by hackers. This exposed sensitive customer information such as usernames, passwords, and other account data. When a company compromises customer data, they not only face potential law suits but the loss of their customers’ trust. Many of the large UK companies now require customers to follow a two-step authentication process when attempting to access their accounts in order to improve safety and eliminate security breaches.

Social media hacking

With more and more UK businesses using websites like Facebook and Twitter to engage with customers, there has been a greater need to prevent social media hacking. Last year many businesses had their social media accounts hacked. Not only did the hackers gain unauthorized access to private messages, but they also sent out spam and hateful messages to customers. Social media hacking can seriously damage a brand’s reputation and at all cost is well worth preventing! Social media has quickly become the face of most UK businesses and therefore should be considered when creating security strategies.

Bug bounties

Although attempting to hack into a UK company’s database is unethical, there are some hackers out there that inform companies of their IT vulnerabilities, rather than selling on the information to cyber criminals. These hackers are often called ‘bug bounties’ and are paid by large companies to find flaws in their websites, databases and applications and find ways to fix them. The money paid by the companies to these ‘ethical hackers’ is thought of as a gesture of thanks, rather than something that is owed to them for their findings.

Conclusion

Although we assume that big UK businesses are invincible, many of them are still at risk from the common IT vulnerabilities stated in this article. It is essential that UK businesses constantly look to improve their security strategies and update their preventative software in order to keep their company information and client details secure. This year companies should be concentrating on developing their mobile security strategies, as mobile will continue to play a significant role in the world of business going forward.

Written by Aaron Hopkins on behalf of Cheeky Munkey IT support.