The geographic distribution of website visitors today makes it important for a site to be able to deliver content reliably and without delay; otherwise, a visitor will leave for another one in a snap. CDNs help eliminate poor download experience by providing faster site downloads, so businesses must adopt them, especially those serving global audiences — even if you’re not speaking to the world, having one is still good.

CDN comes with lots of benefits that affect different areas of a website, directly or indirectly. These are some:

1 Quicker Website Loading Times

One thing you’ll notice almost immediately after setting up CDN service is how fast your web pages load now. What happens here is that CDNs cache (store temporarily) copies of websites on their servers worldwide. Every time someone visits your site, instead of pulling information from just one server, it pulls data from the closest server possible in order to reduce latency time, therefore speeding up page display – which leads to higher customer satisfaction rates and lower bounce rates, too.

When people get tired of waiting for a web page to download, they close it and move on. This may result in a loss of potential revenue for website owners. So you do not want to have such a problem and instead have as many happy visitors as you can.

2 Increased Reliability For Websites

With many CDN servers having copies of your website, you won’t have sleepless nights wondering whether your website is showing up! CDNs come equipped with strong failover capabilities and redundancy features, so if something goes wrong at one place, there’s always another copy somewhere else waiting to be shown.

By distributing content across multiple servers, CDNs reduce the chances of server failures or network congestion which could cause downtimes. This ensures that even if you get a spike in visitors or some hosts go offline unexpectedly, users can still access your site continuously without interruptions hence keeping business on track all day every day – if necessary.

3 Aids With Higher Rankings On Search Engines

Site speed is an important ranking factor for search engines like Google and Bing etc., because it affects user experience.

When it comes to user experience, search engine algorithms don’t take prisoners! So webmasters should do everything possible within reason (and perhaps beyond) to make their sites perform well in terms of loading times which will help them rank higher up on SERPs. In other words, people whose websites are not fast enough need to start worrying about this issue right now because, before they know it, their competitors might have already overtaken them thanks to better CDN optimization techniques.

Apart from that, many CDNs include SSL/TLS encryption — another SEO ranking signal considered important by Google.

4 Support for Rich Media Content

Nowadays, websites often contain high-res images, videos, and interactive elements. These content can take up a lot of bandwidth and time to download. CDNs help to efficiently deliver these assets to users so they can be played back smoothly over different devices and network conditions. Whether it’s product images on an eCommerce site or video content heavy blog post – a CDN can massively improve user experience by reducing buffering times and generally speeding up content delivery.

5 Enhanced Security

Most CDNs come with built-in security features. They include security features such as web application firewalls (WAF), and bot mitigation. However, CDN excels in protecting against a DDoS attack which can crash a server. These functions help protect your web server against malicious attacks, thus making you feel confident about your safety online.

With the constantly evolving landscape of cyber threats, a web server without a CDN can be vulnerable. Companies are encouraged to invest in a CDN that has strong security measures in place if they want to keep their company’s digital assets safe from harm.

6 Scalability

Working on a pay as you used model, CDN can quickly scale up without any downtime. With its elastic computing, load balancing and traffic routing capabilities, a CDN is ready to take on any sudden spikes in traffic on a fly.

CDNs have the ability to scale resources automatically when demand rises, ensuring that even during peak periods, the site remains responsive.

7 Compliance and Regulatory Requirements

Finally, as data privacy laws continue tightening globally. The transfer of data outside a country’s jurisdiction can be an issue, like in the recent TikTok case with the US government. This is where a CDN can be useful if they have servers in the same jurisdiction where data is being collected. In the future, a country’s protection rules may require businesses storing customer information outside certain jurisdictions to comply with specific regulations, which can be facilitated by having some or all parts of their infrastructure reside within those boundaries provided by CDNs.

8 Reduce cost

As more people access your website, you will have no option but to add more servers, which could mean expensive investments into additional hardware. This could be costly as you would also need manpower to help manage things. Leveraging a CDN provider can defray infrastructure and operational costs. Working with CDNs can also help cut down on deployment time together.

In conclusion, integrating a CDN into your website’s infrastructure does not only speed things up or reduce server loads; it also allows businesses to provide frictionless digital encounters that foster customer trust, increase participation and ultimately drive bottom line.

Accompanying some of these new developments are new regulations like personal data protection and personal privacy. Companies need to be ready for all these changes.

Training can help organisations to be ready. Through training, employees can quickly fill knowledge gaps and be effective contributors to your organisation. An organisation that doesn’t invest in training will not be ready to face the challenges in the market. They might even find themselves going the way of the dinosaurs eventually.

Still not convinced about the benefits of training? Do read below to understand the key benefits.

#1 Develop Awareness

One of the primary and key benefits of training is awareness.

Training can bring about awareness in many ways. For example, training can help employees learn new skills and knowledge that can help them better understand their work and the world around them.

Training can also help employees develop a new level of self-awareness of things to do and things to avoid doing.

Finally, training helps employees develop organizational awareness by understanding the goals of their organization. This can lead to increased collaboration and communication between employees, as well as improved performance and efficiency in the workplace.

Thus, awareness is the first and most important thing training brings to the table. From there, all improvement begins.

#2 Increase effectiveness

Things are evolving rapidly – customers are getting sophisticated and competitors are getting more innovative and aggressive. To be able to compete in the market, being effective executors is essential.

For example, in business-to-business sales, being able to present well can get you to the next meeting with someone higher within the organisation. At the customer service end of things, a negative customer can be converted into an advocate.

The above are just two examples of how things can improve or even turn in your favor with employee training.

#3 Prevent things from breaking down

Things break down when people are ill-equipped to deal with situations. In every break down, there will be consequences and repercussions. There could be repercussions in customer or management dissatisfaction, reduce productivity or even unwanted media exposure.

Little incidents can quickly escalate if not properly handled. Customer dissatisfaction can quickly find its way to social media. Hence, training is essential to prevent things from breaking down. Training can also prevent mistakes from ever happening again.

#4 Raise standards

Training sets a company apart from being mediocre.

Deliberate, and constant training can radically improve employees’ understanding of company objectives and help to raise and set standards of performance. If an organisation do not invest in training their employees, they can’t expect their people to get to the next level. That’s why some companies stay small or have to continually waste time addressing the same issues and problems over and over again.

#5 Improve customer experience

When clients experience consistent top-notch service, they will keep coming back.

Top-notch service can be achieved through training, and deploying sound procedures. Without proactively addressing issues through training, you’ll lose clients that might otherwise be saved. With training, standardized client interaction and sound follow-up procedures, you are constantly building better client relationships that will lead to repeat business and referrals.

#6 Be a competitive advantage

Training can be a competitive advantage.

With improved standards brought about by training, customers can expect better service over a competitor who does not invest in training.

With staff having attended training, they can make a difference and are in a better place to put a smile on a customer’s face. Customers are more likely to come back to you over a business that does not know how to take care of them.

#7 Increase revenue

Quality training is guaranteed to make you money.

For example, training your frontline team (i.e. sales, customer support) can help them handle any situation that may occur in a client engagement. Arm them with the necessary mindset to deal with customers’ complaints and objections effectively. They can turn a bad situation into a good one. This could result in more sales and referrals.

#8 Save expenses

Training can also help you save money.

Educating employees on certain must-dos can avert downtime, mishaps, avoid penalties and fines etc.. Training can get employees to toe the line and be compliant and more self-aware.

In today’s privacy-conscious world, do not skip any training in compliance because failing to comply with privacy regulations like PDPA can result in severe penalties.

#9 Retain talent

Training also saves you money through reduced employee turnover. The cost of hiring and training a new employee is high. Also, there is the uncertainty of whether the person can quickly learn the ropes and fit into your company’s culture.

So employee retention is a key consideration in maintaining continuous performance and growth for an organisation. When employees know exactly what to do and are empowered to do so, they feel more confident in executing their tasks to meet performance standards. Employees also feel less stress for now they are equipped with better knowledge of what to do, instead of figuring things out themselves.

With organized and regular training programs, employees will feel your company is willing to invest in them to help them grow. Most people would appreciate a progressive company, rather than one who is not.

Conclusion

Training needs to be part of a company’s culture. It should be looked upon as an investment rather than a cost. Trying to save money on training will cost you more in the future through reduced productivity, loss of customers, penalties from regulators etc.

The quicker an employee is trained, the quicker you will reap the dividends (i.e. increased performance, protection against regulators and cyberattacks, etc.) of your investment.

If you need any training in the areas of sales, cybercriminals and personal data protection, do not hesitate to reach out to us.

Companies that handle personal data from Singapore are responsible for lawful processing under Singaporean law. The transfer of personal data outside of Singapore is regulated, and the PDPC is the main enforcing authority.

As more and more companies adopt policies to be compliant and competitive, it is only a matter of time before companies of all shapes and sizes adopt data protection policies and work toward compliance. 

To be compliant with the law, there are several steps to take. 

Step 1 – Appoint a Data Protection Officer

Foremost, in accordance with section 11 of the PDPA, companies need to appoint a Data Protection Officer. The data protection representative will help management develop policies, programs, and training for employees to comply with the PDPA. The DPO will also keep the management informed of changes to the regulations and issues on the ground. 

Step 2 – Understands the PDPA Obligations

Secondly, company founders and directors need to understand their obligations under the PDPA. Currently, there are 10 obligations with the latest one added on the 1^st Oct 2022. With an understanding of the obligations, management can then have a better appreciation of the PDPA and the necessary actions to take. 

Step 3 – Develop a Data Protection Policy

Thirdly, section 12 of the PDPA requires companies to develop policies and processes to meet the obligations under the PDPA. These policies and procedures will form the baseline of personal data practices within the company. They would then need to be communicated to all staff to ensure compliance. 

Step 4 – Develop a Information Security Policy

We are now living in the information age.

Companies today are increasingly adopting technology to go digital and establish an online presence. While the adoption of technology makes things more efficient and convenient. It also exposes us to cybercriminals who want something from us.  

To remain safe and compliant, technology is employed to help fulfill certain obligations of the PDPA. They serve as controls to provide protection, alert, and audit trails for documentation purposes. Hence, an information security policy is necessary to augment personal data protection practices within the organisation. 

Step 5 – Develop a Data Protection Program

Without a program to back them up, policies are just text on paper.

A personal data protection program should detail tasks to be done to ensure compliance. Creating a data inventory, understanding data flow, and identifying owners are the baseline of any data protection program. Specific areas such as consent, notification, personal data request, handling of personal data, complaints, and data breaches need to be covered in the program.  Regular testing and rehearsals should be conducted whenever possible.  

Step 6 – Employee Awareness Training

To empower employees from becoming victims to defenders of the organisation, it is crucial for them to familiarize themselves with company policies and best practices. Hence, regular training and assessment need to be done to keep every employee on their toes. 

Step 7 – Regular Audit and Update

Finally, as new threats and new ways of working emerge, there will be changes in the way we do things. Hence, regular audits are necessary to fine-tune any process. New discoveries need to be updated in the respective policies to keep them current and relevant. Personal data regulations are not about to go away any time soon. In fact, its adoption by companies will increase. As companies become more aware of their obligations, they may require their business partners to implement PDPA-compliant policies and processes. Any failure to adopt such practices could result in a personal data breach on their end. The fallout may affect the companies that are the data controllers. This could lead to bad press, loss of revenue, and for some even their jobs. 

If you need help in any way on your data protection journey, do drop us a note.

Once a site is blacklisted, its presence on search results can be drastically reduced or even removed altogether, cutting off traffic and credibility in an instant. For entrepreneurs, marketers, and content creators, understanding how these blacklists operate is not just a technical concern but a fundamental safeguard for protecting brand reputation.

What makes the issue of a search engine blacklist particularly challenging is that it often happens quietly, without immediate notice to the site owner. Many discover the problem only after experiencing a sharp drop in visitors or receiving alerts from users who encounter warnings before accessing the site.

By learning what triggers these blacklists and how to avoid them, website owners can shield themselves from unnecessary setbacks and maintain the digital trust that drives growth.

Why do search engine blacklist exist?

For a search engine, a good user experience is important. Protecting its users from harmful websites is one such good user experience requirement.

Websites that have been blacklisted will display a strong message such as “This site may be compromised“, or have a red screen enveloping the entire website.

If your website is on a search engines’ blacklist, not only do you lose organic growth, but more importantly, you lose both reputation and goodwill. All goodwill with the current domain will be lost; your website ranking will drastically drop on search engines. The business consequences can be devastating—lost sales, broken trust, and a long road to recovery.

In extreme cases, you might even have to rebrand your business and get a new domain name. All goodwill and organic traffic will be lost and you need to rebuild everything. That takes a lot of effort and time.

You might have to embark on a costly rebranding campaign to inform your audience of your new website.

How do websites get on the search engine’s blacklist?

There are various reasons why a site is blacklisted.  

Blackhat SEO tactics. For the purpose of ranking higher on Search Engine Result Pages (SERP), some SEO specialists might adopt practices to duped them to rank the page higher. Tactics like cloaking, excessive link exchanges are some of them. You can read more of some blackhat SEO tactics.

Spammy website. A site can be spammy due to malware putting out spammy content. This might result in unhappy site visitors and this doesn’t go down well with Google if the site gets discovered.

Website spreading malware. In some instances, your site could be used to download malware to unsuspecting users. Once this is picked up by the search engines, users will be shown a red screen to warn users from proceeding further. Your website will be quarantined and eventually blacklisted.

Website that plagiarizes. If a website is stealing content from other sites and making it it’s own. The artificial intelligence capabilities of the search engine can quickly and easily pick it up. Being blatant about it and you will soon get blacklisted too.

The sad and truthful part is that you might not even know that you have been banned by the search engines.

It has been reported that typically a malware could be residing on a website for 3 to 6 months without the website owner’s knowledge. Things start to surface when either you are notified by your web host or worst still by your customers and potential prospects.

It is not the search engine’s role to remove malicious code. That will fall onto the lap of the website owner. If you have Google Search Console in place, you could get a warning.

Take a proactive approach

Instead of a reactive approach, which is challenging and detrimental, we would recommend a proactive approach – have an alert mechanism, link your site up with Google Search Console, and implement an anti-malware solution.

We believe as a site owner; you should be the “first to know” of anything that is happening on your website (including the presence of malware) instead of the search engines or anyone else. News, especially negative ones, when made public, can be hard to manage and might spin out of control, resulting in negative publicity.

Reputation is priceless. Why risk it?

One way to avoid it is to deploy an alert mechanism. Once an alert is triggered, you can start your own internal investigation and quickly rectify and contain the problem.

Next is to have a good anti-malware solution to nip the problem at the bud. If anti-malware is in place on your site, it would be able to pick up the malware and tackle the malware before it can do its damage.

We can help you to get you ready and avoid trouble with the search engines.

If, however, you are already on the search engine’s blacklist, you can head to Google Search Console to take the necessary actions to remove the malware if any is present. Next, you would need to check on all login credentials and remove infected files manually. Or if you have an uninfected backup, you can restore it. Just confirm there is no malware in the backup.

Once you have taken the preliminary effort to make your website “good” again, you can then initiate a removal request through Google Search Console. These might take days.

Let us know if you need any assistance in the above area.

The simple answer is NO.

There is no such thing as a 100% secure environment, especially when you are connected to the Internet.

To have near 100% protection, you would need a team of security specialists with a wide range of disciplines, from network, systems to applications. The cost of hiring and maintaining them in itself will be a financial deterrent for most small-medium sized companies.

Hence, cybersecurity for SMEs is at best on a best effort basis.

An IT network is like a human body

A company IT environment is like the human body. It composes of many parts.

Like each human organ with its own ailments, each component in the IT network has its vulnerabilities.

While we try our utmost to stay in the pink of health by working out and eating right, our body will nonetheless be susceptible to some ailments. A case in point is the recent COVID19 virus outbreak. The outbreak affected everyone, both the healthy and the unhealthy.

This analogy applies to a company’s IT environment. While all can be done to prevent it from an attack, if there is a new virus or there is a deliberate focus attack on the network, the network will be compromised. There have been many cases of such breaches even in an organization with sophisticated cyber security defense.

Vulnerabilities everywhere

Vulnerabilities exist all over the entire IT landscape, from network infrastructure, systems, to applications. Even the people working on it is a vulnerability.

Let’s begin with perimeter defenses like firewalls, ports could be accidentally be left open, allowing savvy hackers to use it to enter the network.

All computing devices and servers needs an operating system. These operating systems themselves are notoriously buggy. You can tell by the number of updates you need to do per year.

A savvy hacker could easily launch an attack at the core of these operating systems, and no one would know anything about it including the software vendors themselves.

This is true for all other applications too.

This issue exists because software development companies were traditionally more focused on application functionality and usability. They were also pressed to launch their products quickly. Application security was not part of their initial design priorities. Hence security gaps abound.

To make matters worse, companies across the board are adopting more technology than ever. Hence there will be more and more vulnerabilities for cybercriminals to exploit.

When IoT becomes pervasive connecting everything, the malaise of cyber breaches and its impact will increase exponentially.  It will then be a cybersecurity nightmare.

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Lack of priority

In most small-medium size setup, the need to have a baseline cybersecurity defense is not a priority with management, unlike sales, profitability, and operational matters.

They are typically more concerned about sales, profitability, and operational matters, rather than security matters.

However, this attitude needs to change as the likelihood of a breach increases every day as cybercriminals become more sophisticated.

The situation is more pressing with privacy laws put in place.

In most privacy laws, directors of companies are held responsible for any breaches involving personal data. This is regardless of whether they were directly involved or not.

Implementing a baseline cybersecurity solution and having an education program for employees is more critical than before.

Not many companies are aware of the cost of implementing a cybersecurity solution is a fraction of the cost of any ransom payment or fines. Bosses should consider looking into how to improve their company’s cyber posture.

Shall we have a conversation?

#1 Surfing dubious websites

In today’s technology-driven world, web surfing is an everyday activity.

No one in front of a device, be it a desktop, tablet, or mobile phone, would not be surfing a website.  

Cybercriminals know this too. They set up malicious websites and lure the unsuspecting surfer to visit their sites. Once on their website, the surfer will be induced to unwittingly click on it and download a malicious piece of code.

Once downloaded, the code can do many things. It could encrypt files. It could infect other computers in the network, or it could simply remain quiet in the infected device collecting data.

The poor user is now at the mercy of the cybercriminals.

#2 Not updating your operating system

All software application requires updates from time to time. The purpose of these updates could be fixing a software bug, patching up a security vulnerability, or simply providing new features. Whatever the case, failing to update your operating system when these updates become available would provide the cybercriminal an opportunity to take advantage of the vulnerability and launch a cyber attack.

So you want to quickly update your operating system whenever an update is made available.

#3 Unknowingly downloading a malicious file

Phishing attacks are a popular attack mechanism deployed by cybercriminals.   Phishing attacks are easy to carry out, and with a larger attack surface area, the chance of success is high. Some phishing tactics don’t even require the user to actively download an application.

Users not aware of the various phishing mechanisms will quickly fall for the ruse. The only way to minimize these attacks is through cyber awareness education.  If you are running a network of users, you might even want to launch an internal phishing campaign to identify those users who easily fall for such tactics. You can then send them for further education.

#4 Infected by another computer

If you are part of a computer network, and if a computer is compromised, like a virus, they could quickly infect other machines. The cybercriminals could then easily take control of the network to do some nasty things or launch an attack onto another network – your customer’s perhaps.

Unless you have a cybersecurity defense system in place, you will be oblivious of such activity.

#5 No cyber defense in place

Minimally computers in your network should have a cyber defense solution to protect them. Each device is a point of entry for the cybercriminal.

With the trend of users working remotely, the likelihood of a cyber incident is even higher. When a cyber incident is made public, it will undermine the confidence of its stakeholders, and its reputation will take a hit.

This is made worst if it involves personal data. Privacy regulators would step in and further impose fines. The fines and cost of fixing the issue could be costly and be potentially deadly to a company with limited funds.

Companies should deploy a cyber defense to protect itself. After all, the cost of implementing a cyber defense solution is a fraction of cyber incidents.

#6 Using a computer whose OS is no longer supported

Software vendors are constantly innovating and bringing forth innovations and features to their application. Take, for example, Microsoft Windows. It has gotten several upgrades from Windows 95, 98, to currently Windows 10. With each version upgrade, older versions will no longer be supported. Announcements will usually be made about the application going end-of-life to prepare its users to upgrade to the latest version.

When an application goes end-of-life, there will be no more support for it. So if there is an application vulnerability or bug, the software vendor will not be releasing any patch or fix for it. Anyone who persists in using the older version will run the risk of being exploited or be hit by malware.

#7 New attack mechanism

Cybercriminals are not staying still. They are continually devising new ways of mounting an attack.

When a new attack is launched, most users will not have the means to defend against it. They will quickly be its latest victim. Deploying a cyber defense solution is your best bet against such an attack.

Any cybersecurity software vendors worth their salt will be on their toes to quickly counter such threats, or their reputation as a security vendor will take a beating.

The information security policy is gaining importance as more and more of a company’s internal processes become digitized, and outsourced. As a company relies more and more on automation, more software applications are onboarded into a company, the risks of a cyber incident increases . This would un-nerve stakeholders like bankers.

With an information security policy, it gives assurances to external stakeholders the management’s commitment to in mitigating against a cyber attack and data breach. Even if you are a small business owner, having an information security policy is needed to document what you have in place to safeguard confidential data, especially private personal data.

The trend of employees working remotely also adds to the risks of a cyber incident. Sometimes, users would be working over 3^rd party networks, whose security could be lacking. While transmitting unsecurely on these 3^rd party networks, they run the risk of being compromised through a “man in the middle attacks”.

In the last few years, many countries across the world have been erecting privacy laws to protect the privacy of its citizens.

In the event of a data breach, there will be an investigation by the regulators. One of the things they would request is the company’s information security policy. The existence of an information security policy will provide the regulators with an idea of the management’s commitment of taking cybersecurity seriously. If a information security policy is lacking, the company runs the risks of attracting a hefty fine.

Just like any other policies in the company, understanding the content of the information security policy should be made mandatory. Every employee should comply with it to insulate themselves and the organization against regulatory fines and civil suits.

With the increased chance of a cyber incident, companies need to start preparing themselves for one. Careful consideration of how to defend and respond to one is more important than ever. The information security policy is an excellent place to start in improving a company’s cyber posture.

We can help in drafting one for your organisation, shall we have a conversation?

In the 2000s, a new term has emerged –malware. While computer salespeople today do not ask customers to purchase anti-malware software to protect their new purchase, understanding malware is essential to safeguard your investment.

Viruses and malware are malicious in nature. With these terms floating around, people are confused by them. While anti-virus is simple enough to understand, the term malware is a bit more vague. So, where does each term fits in the cybersecurity lexicon?

In this blog, we explain the difference and provide some clarity on the terminologies.

The word malware is a shortened version of the term “malicious software”.  It is not a single piece of software but a category of software. Malware is essentially any software that is designed to gain unauthorized access to a computer for harmful purposes.

Below are some common forms of malware.

Virus

Viruses are just one variant of malware.  A virus malware as its name implies not only affect the computer it downloaded on, once it has gained entry into a network, it will quickly propagate itself and affect other computers in the network  

Adware

Adware derives its name the word advertisement and malware. This form of malware is closely associated with adverts, which prompts you to download something (i.e. a discount coupon, an informational guide). While downloading the gift, along with it, an adware malware is also downloaded.

Keyboard logger

The term “keyboard logger” may not be a term most people would be familiar. However, when you mention “spyware,” it immediately conjures images of someone being spied on, in this case, an application that keeps track of what you key into your keyboard.  

Once spyware is downloaded onto a computing device, it operates quietly in the background. The spyware will start collecting information on what you type on your keyboard. This information is then periodically sent back to the cybercriminals, where they will sift out information of interest.

This method is typically used when trying to identify a person’s password.

Ransomware

Ransomware is malware that, once download, quickly encrypts critical files or even the entire computer. A ransom is then demanded. Only when the ransom is paid, the cybercriminals will then decrypt the affected files, restore a defaced website or release control of the compromised machine.

Wannacry and Petya were high profile ransomware that affected many organizations across the globe. Petya encrypted entire computer systems by overwriting the master boot record, rendering the operating system unbootable. 

Trojans

Trojan malware is named after the proverbial Greek Trojan Horse.

In the story of the Trojan Horse, after a 10-year-old siege of the City of Troy, the Greeks constructed a wooden horse. They left it outside the city walls of Troy and withdrew their army. The people of Troy thinking the horse was a form of tribute to them, brought it into their city walls. Unknown to them, there was a group of men within the horse.

In the cover of darkness, the men emerged from the underbelly of the horse. And before the citizens of Troy knew what was happening, they were run over by the Greeks.

A Trojan malware is similar to the Trojan Horse. However, instead of a horse, the “horse” is now legitimate downloads. Once an unsuspecting user downloads it,  the Trojan malware will, along with the “horse”, be downloaded onto the user’s desktop.

Once the malware is in place in the network, it can start stealing confidential data, installing more malicious software, or even take control over the entire machine.

Worms

Worms are one of the most common types of malware. Like viruses, they spread quickly once downloaded. The difference between worms and viruses malware is that the latter requires human intervention to spread. A worm malware, on the other hand, is autonomous.  A worm malware can automatically send out a mass email to quickly infect other computers.

As you can see from the above, many malware types can affect a computer. In today’s highly connected world, the chance of a malware infection is very high.

Hence a company needs to take proactive steps to educate its employees and put in place some baseline malware detection software.

Once a malware gains a foothold into your computer and network, it can be debilitating and sometimes even devastating.

We can help to reduce the presence of malware in your organization, shall we have a conversation?

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Imagine you are living in a village, and you, the village chieftain, hears of an impending attack.

You would quickly summon the villagers and prepare them for the attack.

If the village is attacked, property and lives will be lost.

Today, companies are facing a similar assault. This time the attackers are cybercriminals.

Like in the case of the village, unless there is a decent defense, all will be lost.

Do you have a plan to defend your organization against such an attack?  The threat is genuine, and it is not going to go away any time soon.

Imagine now a farmer in your village, he/she is busy tilting on his land, when he sees some strangers at the peripheral of the farm.

He has two choices to make –he either ignores them observes and continues tilting his land or quickly alerts the rest in the village on what he has just witnessed.

Imagine now the farmer is one of your employees. He/she noticed something abnormal. He/she similar has two choices – to report the abnormality or not to conduct his/her work as if nothing has happened.

As the organization chieftain, what would you prefer them to do?

Would you prefer them to be victims or defenders of the business?

Cyber incidents are real. You can ignore your attackers, but your attackers might not want to ignore you.

The stakes are high. New privacy regulations are not helping by increasing the already high stakes.

What you have painstakingly built could be destroyed in a flash.

Would you want to take a proactive stance to boost your cybersecurity posture?

We can help in this conversion of unaware employees into an organization of alert cyber warriors.

Shall we have a conversation?

For the longest time since the birth of the Internet, there was no requirement for websites to have the secure transport HTTPS protocol to display web content over browsers like Google Chrome. Traffic and data requests from sites without HTTPS were transmitting information in the clear.

However, with the rise of cyber criminals’ activities, increasing financial transactions, and issues around personal data, the need for secure transmission becomes critical.

With effect from July 2018, Google’s web browser, Google Chrome, started flagging out websites that are not HTTPS compliant. Google requires data and traffic information to be encrypted and transmitted from the browser to the web server and vice versa over HTTPS. In this manner, both the website and users will not be prone to an attack.

Website owners who handle transactions online started implementing SSL certificates to give their site visitors peace of mind that they are conducting their purchases on a secure site.

With privacy laws quickly being implemented by many countries, companies and organizations soon followed sue to enforce the HTTPS protocol to safeguard private data provided by their customers over the web.

Mixed content occurs for websites that were designed and uploaded under an HTTP URL and later converted to HTTPS via way of implementing a SSL certificate.

Mixed content is a security loophole. It exposes your web traffic during transmission.

Despite the HTTPS web link, some content on the website, such as videos, images, and scripts, are, however, still transmitting over the not secure HTTP connection.

Hence you have an issue of mixed content from HTTPs and HTTP, loading on a page.

Any data transmitting over the non-secure HTTP exposes the website to attacks through “man in the middle attack” techniques. By intercepting these unsecured transmissions, cybercriminals can now gain access to your data like login credentials and credit card details.

This mixed content issue must be quickly fixed to ensure ALL content is transmitted through the secure HTTPS protocol before a data breach occurs.

As a site owner, you want to fix this before it is too late.

As part of our web security offering, we can scan and fix these mixed content issues.

Shall we have a conversation?

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However, there are some sensitive pages on a website that we recommend site owners not allow search engines to index and display as it could pose a security breach. One such weblink would be our Content Management System (CMS) login page.

Should a hacker finds out the link to your CMS login, he/she could try to brute force themselves into your CMS and take control of your website.

Fortunately, there is a way to ‘tell’ the search engines not to display these sensitive pages by way of a file, robots.txt. In the file, you can list the webpages you do not want search engines to index and make it discoverable.

The robots.txt file is essential to search engines too. A crawler bot from a search engine while indexing your website will also look for the robots.txt file on your site. They will take a peek into it, to see if there is any website for them to avoid displaying. If there is nothing in the robots.txt, they will, by default, make all pages discoverable.

Displaying a sensitive page to the wrong audience (i.e., hacker) could result in a hacker hacking into it, leading to a compromised site, something no human or search engine wants.

Hence search engines need your help to keep the Internet a safer place. They need site owners to specifically list webpages that they do not wish to be displayed.

Do reach out to us if you need any assistance in this area.