What Is An Attack Surface And How To Reduce It

The entire number of ways or methods a hacker can employ to enter into your network and steal data is referred to as the attack surface. It’s critical to keep your attack surface as small as possible – if hackers have just a few attack vectors to deal with, they’ll rapidly quit the project in search of simpler prey. A common attack surface is divided into two categories: digital and physical.

What Is An Attack Surface

Digital Attack Surface: This includes dangers that are based on software, websites, servers, and anything else that can link to a company’s or organization’s systems digitally. Potential risks from the internet via a phishing email or poor-quality encryption are examples of digital attack surfaces.

Physical Attack Surface: This refers to everything a hacker could physically obtain to gain access to a system or network. Typically, these are end-point devices that include phones, laptops, computers, hard drives, and USB sticks. A note with sensitive information that was thrown away carelessly also counts as a physical attack.

Why Is It Necessary To Minimize Your Attack Surface?

Just because you’re not part of a large corporation doesn’t mean you can take cybersecurity lightly. Hackers are opportunistic, which means that if they identify a network that can be broken into with little effort, they can profit from it. A single malware infestation is all it takes to bring your network to a halt. Small and medium-sized firms, in particular, are vulnerable. According to a survey from 2019, small businesses were the target of 43 percent of cyber attacks that year. Unfortunately, only 14% of those organizations were prepared to defend themselves against a cyberattack, according to the survey.

How Can I Make My Attack Surface Smaller?

To begin, you must identify any network vulnerabilities, both physical and digital. What is the total number of devices linked to your systems? What are the different types of virtual access points? Is your data storage simply accessible by anyone in your network or company? If you own a business, how many employees have access to all of the computer systems? Is it necessary for them to have full access? Here is what you should pay attention to reduce the attack surface.

Profile Restrictions. Place restrictions around certain profiles. By reducing the number of users that can access the most sensitive parts of your network, you automatically diminish risk.

Two-factor authentication (2FA). It is highly advised to prevent tech-savvy criminals from gaining access to a device if they manage to get their hands on one.

Install Virtual Private Network. A VPN app is an amazing software that masks your IP address

Install Antivirus software. You can opt for an Antivirus on all suitable devices, and schedule regular and frequent scans if you haven’t previously. A security scan of your network and systems will also help identify any other weaknesses.

Ascertain that all end-point devices are protected using the most up-to-date protocols.

Systweak VPN: Reduce Your Attack Surface Now

One of the best VPN services for Windows is Systweak VPN, which combines smart DNS with a kill switch. This VPN for Windows protects your online privacy by allowing anonymous browsing and concealing your IP address with military-grade AES 256-bit encryption. You may avoid ISP throttling by using our free VPN service. Systweak VPN has several useful functions in addition to masking your IP address and protecting you from the dangers of public Wi-Fi. Some of the benefits are as follows:

There are no geographical limitations. All IP region-based restrictions imposed by streaming services like Netflix are abolished when utilizing a virtual private network application like Systweak VPN.

Maintains the user’s security and privacy. A VPN application provides privacy and security by preventing hackers from tracing your original IP address or location. Viruses, malware, and other forms of trackers are also absent from your laptop.

Securely sharing files. Data sent over a public Wi-Fi network is encrypted and unreadable by hackers, so you can rest easy.

Secured Remote Access. You may quickly set up remote access from your laptop to your company or home computer, if you activate your VPN on any network, including public Wi-Fi. You will have complete control over this virtual private network, which will be hacker-proof.

The Final Word On What Is An Attack Surface And How To Reduce It?

The number of attack vectors should be greatly decreased once you’ve updated your network with the latest cybersecurity updates and instructed your personnel on how to handle company data properly. When it comes to cybersecurity, knowledge is essential. If you’re aware of the dangers, you’ll know exactly how to avoid them. And Systweak VPN is one of the weapons that your defense mechanism needs to protect from malicious actors.

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