Ever since the 1979 horror movie classic When A stranger Calls came out, the terrifying notion of an intruder “already in the house” has been engrained in our collective psyche in the same way Jaws, which came out in 1975,  changed how most of the planet still looks at the ocean today. In the movie, a babysitter is receiving repeated calls from a stranger. When she gets sufficiently scared by the things he knows, things happening inside the house, she calls the police. When they finally trace the call, the dispatcher tells her the calls are coming from inside the house, and voila, one of the scariest opening scenes in movie history was born (recreated in the opening scene of Scream for you horror movie buffs).

The idea of an intruder residing undetected on your network for weeks, months, or even years, should give you the same electrical shock of fear, because it isn’t fiction, it’s not a horror movie, it’s real life, and it is a cybersecurity nightmare happening every day in 2023. Imagine what someone with unfettered access to all of your systems and data could do to your business with that level of access and control - extortion, destruction, stealing and selling your proprietary information and other Intellectual Property (IP) to your competitor, the sky is the limit.

Assess and test regularly (at least bi-annually)

In today’s digitally powered and data driven world, it has never been more imperative to assess and test your cyber environment regularly to prevent horror stories like these from unfolding in “your house.” And unfortunately, due to the COVID chaos causing such upheaval that it forced countless businesses to completely rewrite their entire business plans and models, along with a heap of other adjustments over the last year and a half, like remote workforces, things like regular penetration testing and network vulnerability assessments fell by the wayside. The mantra became we don’t have the money, we don’t have the time, we’re not a target for hackers, which are all positions that could end up with your doors closing for good. The danger is real.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are steps cyber security professionals like Global Digital Forensics can help businesses take to fortify their delicate cyber-ecosystems, without crushing budgets or swallowing up the time you need to be spending doing what you do best. Some of these include:

1) Identifying threat vectors and cyber policy shortcomings - Because every organization is unique, a one size fits all approach is very rarely successful. In one situation laptops and insiders may be the highest threat vector, in another it may be outsiders or removable media. GDF conducts network vulnerability assessments using a proven variety of methods to expose the most likely threat vectors to you network, and weaknesses in internal cyber policies. With this valuable information, detailed reports with remediation recommendations will be generated.

2) Data Flow Mapping – Many organizations have certain system areas containing confidential ESI locked down like Ft. Knox, but there are many paths and forms data can take in its lifespan. Cyber security can inherently not exist if an organization doesn’t know where every bit of data has traveled and who has accessed it, from conception to disposal. GDF’s detailed Data Flow Mapping will uncover the vulnerable points and offer recommendations to fortify those vulnerabilities.

3) Penetration Testing – Compared to IT security personnel, hackers have it easy. While those tasked with protecting data have to plug a million holes, a hacker only needs to find one. A penetration test conducted by GDF serves to expose the weaknesses a real-world hacker may find by attempting to hack through an organization’s security using the same exploits, techniques and strategies an outside hacker would use to gain unauthorized access to data. Detailed reports and remediation recommendations will then be generated so the vulnerabilities can be corrected.

4) Emergency Intrusion Incident Response Teams - In the ever evolving cyber landscape, there is unfortunately no such thing as perfect security, so even the most advanced cyber security measures may eventually be compromised. GDF has a network of emergency responders strategically located, both nationally and globally, to respond to an intrusion in a matter of hours. By setting up a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with GDF in advance, the response procedures and policy will already be laid out, and the time-critical task of mitigating damage and loss due to a data breach will be substantially improved. Having GDF signed on as emergency incident responders also helps satisfy certain regulatory compliance issues.

It is proven time again that how an organization responds to a data breach will greatly affect client trust and the public perception of an organization’s integrity, so don’t wait until it’s too late; the right time to take control of data security is right now.

Make the right call

So isn’t it time to make sure your alone in the house? Call GDF today at 1-800-868-8189 and let us do what we do best for you to ensure that’s the case.

*Global Digital Forensics is a recognized industry leader in the fields of computer forensics, cyber security and emergency incident response, with years of experience assisting clients in the government, banking, healthcare, education and corporate arenas. For a free consultation with a Global Digital Forensics specialist, call 1-800-868-8189 about tailoring a cost-effective plan which will meet your unique needs, without wasting resources on solutions you simply don’t need. Emergency responders are also standing by 24/7 to handle intrusion and data breach emergencies whenever and wherever they arise. Time is critical if a cyber incident has occurred, so don’t hesitate to get help. For more information, visit our cyber security page.