RSA teams up with Computer One to deliver Network Security seminar
Yesterday we hosted a Network Security event with RSA that rated 4.5 out of 5 with attendees for its practicality and to-the-point messages.
Computer One took the stage first with a session on Continuous Vulnerability Management. Our new managed service uses automated software to probe for holes in your network both from inside and outside. In 4 days we can test for more than 65,000 different vulnerabilities, produce a comprehensive report that lists your Critical, Severe and Moderate vulnerabilities and advise on the remediation steps required to remove each one from your network. It’s a project that requires relatively little input from our clients but can produce big results.
Back in 2016, RSA presented on the topic of Multi-Factor Authentication and how easy it can be to integrate it into your current network. As you can see in the image above, the Top 4 passwords that came out of a real-life study of a Fortune 500 company’s users were so laughably easy to hack that it’s clear the age of the password as a single factor in establishing authenticity has come and gone.
(2021 Update: password simplicity and password re-use continue to be an issue in 2021. Security vendor SpyCloud revealed in their March 2021 Credential Exposure Report that up to 87% of passwords are re-used despite increasing awareness of the dangers, and the most common password is still “123456”. They took their data from an analysis of 1.5 billion (yes, you read that correctly) records that were revealed in 854 known compromises in 2020.)
From 2016: RSA offers a customisable mix of authentication technology, with soft tokens a popular choice. A soft token usually takes the form of an SMS straight to your phone with a short number sequence for you to type in when you are at a challenge point in accessing your network. It can be combined with usernames, passwords and other forms of identification to produce a super-strong barrier to hackers.
RSA were keen to make the point that you don’t have to roll out multi-factor authentication across your entire user group to obtain its benefits. You can select a subset of users whose access to critical records needs to be controlled and only extend the solution to those people. (Of course, nowadays with soft tokens available via free authentication applications, every user can (and should) be required to use Multi-factor authentication.)
In 2016, it was interesting to note that RSA said they were working on technology to recognise elements of your face to bypass the need for a password in order to use a phone or desktop solution or access important data. In 2021, this is now commonplace on both Android and iPhones, proving the validity of the research and development effort in 2016.
RSA provide range of global support services to meet your company needs and requirements, including personalised support options and self services.
Most, if not all, of Computer One’s clients have adopted MFA to secure their online properties. In fact, Computer One keeps track of those that have not and constantly encourages it in regular reviews until it is adopted.
Our thanks go to Dicker Data for arranging a lot of the details of the 2016 event.
