7 hardware and software vulnerabilities you should address now.
Research from Spiceworks, a network of IT professionals, highlighted more than 70% of respondents rated security as their top concern for 2017. Here are nine things that should be keeping you up at night…
Aging hardware
Sure, software is the greater risk, but many hardware vulnerabilities are software-based. That’s why you should be auditing and planning to remove:
- Computers with conventional BIOS, because they can’t run Secure Boot, which helps to prevent malware loading during the boot process.
- Old routers, which can have serious vulnerabilities.
- Drives that don’t self-encrypt. Self-encrypting drives (SEDs) need a password (in addition to the OS login password), and the technology automatically encrypts and decrypts data on the drive.
Tired software
Getting your hardware straight will almost always involve spending money, but fixing up software could be as simple as running those free updates you never got around to. Here’s what to look at:
- Unpatched or out-of-date operating systems: Windows XP died three years ago and MUST BE REMOVED!
- Unpatched or out-of-date software: It’s highly risky to run unpatched versions of Microsoft Office, especially older versions like Office 2003, and 2007. They can give a hacker access to the rest of a system, with particularly nasty consequences for your data!
- Legacy (old school) custom apps. Get onto the software provider and have those specialist programs either upgraded or replaced
- Unpatched web browsers: No browser is entirely free of security flaws. Always, always run the most recent version of Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and any others.
We are always happy to provide FREE software audits for your home or small business. Contact us today!
