As was already apparent in previous years, IT security in 2019 is assuming a very significant and growing economic importance. Not only large, internationally active companies, but also the middle class with its small and medium-sized enterprises are particularly challenged here. As the recent incidents surrounding the appearance of records with many millions of stolen passwords show, in the age of Industry 4.0, the work of individual hackers is often enough to compromise entire industries.

The threat situation is becoming more complex and complex

The threat situation is becoming increasingly complex for companies. Complex attack scenarios pose new challenges for IT security. As an example, the blackmail Trojan NotPetya, the e-mail vulnerability Efail and the Windows systems malicious program WannaCry.

Particularly noteworthy are the vulnerabilities Specter and Meltdown in the CPU, the microprocessors of recent hardware. Especially the latter scenarios are aimed at hardware weaknesses of modern IT systems below the operating system level and therefore pose particular challenges for the IT security of your company.

In addition, the protection of personal data by the DSGVO applicable since 25.05.2018 in all EU countries and the sanctions introduced with it place greater demands on the IT security of companies of all sizes.

The fines imposed by the GDPR of up to 20 million euros or up to 4% of the annual turnover as well as possible claims for damages can be a threat to the very existence of small and medium-sized enterprises.

This must take into account the administrative measures of the IT security of your company. Cybercriminals are increasingly basing their extortion attempts and the level of their demands on the otherwise potentially imminent sanctions under the GDPR.

New challenges for IT security through the Internet of Things (IoT) and embedded systems

The progressive digitization at all levels of social and economic life brings with it the increasing interconnectedness of everyday objects as well as of production and industrial plants. This is accompanied by new threats in IT security.

Meanwhile, the number of internet-enabled smart, ie largely self-controlling household appliances, home appliances in residential or office buildings and industrial tools has grown so much that it exceeds the number of desktop PCs and notebooks together with mobile devices of any kind.

The Embedded Systems embedded in the IoT devices in Industry 4.0 are often less protected against external attacks than the company’s own servers and desktop PCs. The devices connected in the Internet of Things (IoT) are therefore a worthwhile target for cybercriminals.

Thus, vulnerabilities exploited in the IT security of Internet-enabled production and industrial plants as well as smart home systems can be used to unite huge botnets.

A remote-controlled network formed by hijacked devices (botnet) then has the potential to carry out extensive DDOS attacks (so-called distributed denial of service attacks) on a number of simultaneous server requests to individual infrastructures and thus to achieve the collapse of, for example, a web server.

Inadequate IT security in the Internet of Things is often the first gateway for cybercriminals to penetrate further corporate structures and networks and capture and spy on corporate data. The IT security measures of your company should therefore take these aspects into consideration.

AI, server monitoring and IT documentation in IT security

In view of increasingly complex threat scenarios and in view of the increasing demands on their defense, the development of self-learning systems is becoming increasingly important in IT security. The so-called Artificial Intelligence (Artificial Intelligence, AI for short) has made enormous progress in recent years and is increasingly used by cybercriminals for increasingly difficult to ward off attacks.

In order to maintain and expand their lead in this race between attack and defense, providers of security solutions, IT system houses and cloud services are increasingly turning to self-learning algorithms. This help analyzes vulnerabilities and network traffic and helps IT managers prevent and counter cyber attacks.

The use of AI is apt to detect deviations and irregularities (anomalies) in network traffic and in the IT infrastructure more quickly and counteract them in good time. A central problem of IT security is that attacks are often not noticed until after some time and then the damage has occurred long ago.

The server monitoring and IT documentation come in developing the best possible for your company IT security while a very important role. The smooth interaction of the entire, often historically grown and not always uniform IT infrastructure of a company is indispensable for the success of a company in a digitalized world.

A uniform IT management and a uniform monitoring of the servers including automated systems covering the entire IT infrastructure can make a significant contribution to IT security. This includes a thorough and comprehensive IT documentation that comprehensively maps all components of your company’s IT infrastructure.

Together, the careful monitoring and the thorough IT documentation form an important cornerstone of the IT security of your company. In addition, helpdesks as specialized software solutions for the documentation of problems in the IT infrastructure and in the IT security can provide a good solution.

Outsourcing supports IT security

Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular are often not adequately prepared for IT infrastructure requirements and IT security as part of their digital business processes. Increasing skills shortages often make it difficult to hire qualified staff.

Small and medium-sized enterprises in particular benefit from the expertise and know-how of external IT system houses and IT service providers such as bios-tec, based in Munich.

Experts help your company in all matters of the required IT infrastructure. This ranges from necessary hardware to company-specific software solutions. You support your company sustainably with meaningful cloud or hybrid solutions and are a competent partner in IT security.

Even companies with their own IT department benefit from the experience and bundled knowledge of such specialists in IT technology so that problems can be solved promptly and competently. This leads to higher reliability of IT systems and thus to a better-added value in the own company.