What I can say for now, with full honesty, that we might not use the word “impenetrable”. Not by a long shot. There is no doubt that programmers, computer scientists and systems analysts are working hard towards achieving “impenetrable”. They create new protection codes, stronger firewalls and develop more unique antivirus.
Data centres, like other IT infrastructure, are not being spared from IT threats. Cybercrime is still a constant fear among many, especially, within the business sectors with more than half of the companies worldwide being affected. As their data is cracked open and held ransom from within, they may indeed feel vulnerable. IT departments are working consistently to avoid and detect possible attackers, whom, by the time of detection, will have had ample time to study the company’s figures and statistics, attack and disappear almost scot-free.
So how can this happen?
Depending on the hosts, protection for some data centres are poor from a potential data penetration perspective. Many cannot predict the moment the attacker enters an exposed network, and once they are in – all hell breaks loose. It is a tough concept for security professionals to accept and most IT societies agree that, to this point, they can and will get in.
Remember, the network’s shield deflects most of the attempts made by the attacker. However, that will give that small percentage, as much as 2%, the clear chance to pass through. Attackers can succeed by either social engineering, guessing through passwords or by the usage of malware. And here’s the thing: these people hardly use malwares. Operating these parasites are only a fraction of a million possibilities the attackers can do to infest their dirty work.
Sure, some data centres are better off than others for system fortification, but how reliable are they? It is not surprising that a company will receive hundreds of security notifications and they are all false alarms. Also, the system cannot distinguish having an activity being activated by a valid user or a determined attacker. Real damage might have already been done by the time it was discovered.
Man up and do something about it!
Dismissing the talent of hackers and cyber attackers are simply arrogant and dangerous, which can lead up to losing millions of dollars. Resolving these kind of issues will require a different way of finding a new angle. Like a fever, normally we will medicate it accordingly when we see the obvious symptoms. In this case however, we should take note of the habitual behavior of the data centre – be proactive and not reactive. Any funny business, especially when the system goes slightly out of character, is where we can see that an attacker is present and is on the move.
With the old way of security, a data centre will always be vulnerable to cyberattacks. Instead, try implementing the new behavioral-method and stop attackers at the early stage. It will save you a lot of money in the long run.
At Global ITN, our data centre experts will perform a survey and research to ensure optimal data centre deployment. We provide a complete package of services for your data centre requirements, ensuring safety and meeting your company needs.
What Global ITN offers:
- Hosting multi-tier platforms in carrier-neutral co-location data centres across a global infrastructure
- Securely deliver mission-critical applications and content to end consumers with excellent response times
- Green data centre partners equipped with efficient cooling facilities that can deliver high power density in an energy-efficient space
- Business continuity deployment preparation
- System redundancy for power supply, air conditioning and your network
- Remote hands: On-site physical presence for maintenance of facilities
- Disaster recovery and operational support
- 24 ⁄ 7 operations and maintenance system support
