Three Misconceptions About Secure IT Infrastructures

When it comes to setting up and effectively managing your company’s IT infrastructure, there are a number of decisions to be made. Unfortunately, there’s also plenty of bad information being peddled by so-called experts and vendors. At Tech World, Roger A. Grimes published a list of “promises that don’t deliver” concerning specifically IT security. Avoiding these misconceptions helps you create a more effective infrastructure.

• Invulnerable Applications

The idea of software that is unbreakable, unhackable and totally secure is naturally attractive, but it’s a myth. Even the most painstakingly crafted applications contain flaws that eventually allow them to be hacked. A popular cry from vendors is to tout software as unbreakable, but in reality this only invites more trouble. Publicly claiming that software contains no vulnerabilities only places a target on that software. Many times, this software ends up being routinely attacked and being one of the least trusted applications available.

• Unbreakable Encryption

Encryption is a valuable security tool, but it’s incredibly difficult to create strong encryption. There are many who claim to offer unbreakable encryption, but with few exceptions encryption is hard to break, but not impossible. One characteristic that suggests a vendor’s encryption is not worth your money is the promise of thousands to millions of bits for the key. Typically, strong encryption tops out at 2048-bit keys. Anything larger is unnecessary and actually gives intelligent attackers more opportunities to find flaws and break the code. Million-bit encryption would also require a large amount of data and be difficult to send anywhere thanks to prohibitive file sizes.

• Perfect Antivirus

This myth is a little more well-known than the others but it also leads to a large portion of successful attacks. The truth is that no one is ever truly, full secure. No antivirus is capable of catching ever possible attack and malware before it happens. Most won’t even be able to spot every piece of malware already installed on a device. The belief that a perfect antivirus program is possible, however, leads to irresponsible actions. Users put themselves in harms way because they believe their antivirus program will protect them from anything that comes along. If you want a perfect antivirus program, don’t rely on it. The better the user’s behavior and habits, the more fewer problems you’ll encounter. To get the truth about what’s needed for your company’s IT infrastructure, call Geek Rescue at 918-369-4335.