“It is no secret that the computer security industry has been fighting cyberthreats for over 30 years, but they are not disappearing, but are becoming even more sophisticated,” said the company’s CEO, Vincent Steckler, in a video interview with ValueTech.
For the sake of justice, we must say that the tools to combat Internet threats are also constantly being improved. “As early as 20 years ago, the kiddy script and the simplest viruses were considered a big problem, although, to be honest, they were not designed to harm users, but rather to promote themselves.
However, today everything is different. Computers are quite well protected, so the search for loopholes to infiltrate malware into the system is a non-trivial task and can only be performed by a highly professional cybercriminal. So now it’s more like a cat and mouse game.
A step closer to the intruders
To effectively counteract modern cybercriminals, Avast virus lab experts are constantly learning all the techniques and tricks used by cybercriminals.
“In fact, our experts must be able to predict the intruders’ intentions long before they are implemented, so that they do not lag behind and eliminate potential vulnerabilities one step ahead of time. Meanwhile, cybercriminals are inventing more and more tricks and tricks, discovering more and more loopholes,” continues Steckler.
Developers of anti-virus software have made a huge contribution to improving the protection of home computers and workstations – so large that today it is almost impossible to get into the system of a particular computer or workstation. Attackers are forced to look for other loopholes.
According to Avast specialists, one of such loopholes in the nearest future will be home routers.
Home routers are an easy target for hackers
The main argument when buying a router is still the price, so it is fair to believe that most of them will not be provided with sufficient protection against unauthorized entry from outside. According to Vincent Steckler, “About 70% of routers used by home users around the world are vulnerable to hacking.
The reasons why routers are vulnerable are simple: “Most router manufacturers do not think about providing their devices with basic protection against outside intrusion.
In addition, the combination of username and password used by the vast majority of users for their routers, can not withstand any criticism and can be compromised within seconds. We should also keep in mind that routers do not receive regular security updates, i.e. the vulnerabilities they have are not being addressed in any way, making them an easy target for attackers,” concludes Stehler.
Recently, the Anonymous DDoS attack was confirmed by the Anonymous group, which was carried out with the help of compromised user routers. This is the first swallow, in the near future the number of such incidents will only increase.
How can I provide reliable protection for the Internet of Things, Smart Home and Industry 4.0?
“Phenomena such as the Internet of Things or enterprise 4.0 have a lot of press coverage, mainly due to their spectacular names,” says Vincent Steckler.
Smart refrigerators, thermostats, door locks, surveillance cameras, etc., appear in the homes, but “at the moment, most of the Internet-connected refrigerators are not doing anything revolutionary. They simply duplicate the tablets for the Internet viewer.
“When you think about the necessary security measures, the first thing you need to do is to find the answer to a simple question – what is it that threatens me with? If my plug-in fridge is hacked into by hackers, what could happen?
If my thermostat is hacked into, what am I afraid of first? “What all these devices have in common is that none of them are directly connected to the Internet of Things. All of them are connected through a home router.
Since the home router itself is vulnerable, the devices connected to it are also under constant threat of hacking. “The truly effective protection of the IoT is unthinkable without the reliable protection of the home router.
The risks associated with BYOD
“The company’s security in light of the personal mobile devices used by employees is a separate story. We all use mobile devices, however, for a variety of reasons, it’s much more convenient for us to use a single mobile device for both business and personal tasks,” says Steckler.
“Even though some companies spend money on mobile devices for security purposes, the fact remains that employees use them not only for business purposes.
The coexistence of corporate and personal data on one device exposes both the company and the user to a high level of risk. By allowing access to internal servers, if the device is compromised, this means that the company is completely vulnerable to sensitive data.
In the event of loss of the device by an employee, a typical company reaction is to remotely delete all data, including personal data of the user. However, this does not save from the huge losses associated with the loss or compromise of corporate data.
“To date, there is only one solution to this problem: virtualization of all processes related to the use of mobile devices for business purposes.
This will allow the employee to perform their work tasks using their mobile device without putting corporate data at risk, as it will still be on secure corporate servers rather than on the device itself,” comments Vincent Steckler. “That’s why Avast has introduced its new solution this year, which allows you to do just that.