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Cisco Routers
In March of 2005, British authorities unveiled a cyber crime which they foiled involving a
gang's plan to steal an unprecedented sum of $412,000,000 from the London offices of the
Japanese bank Sumitomo. This planned heist was nearly actuated by hacking into the bank's
system utilizing keylogging software. Keylogging software is used to record keystrokes to
potentially gain access to confidential information such as passwords and account numbers.
Incidents such as this can be reduced or alleviated by placing a focus on network security.
An organization's development of a "Solid front line" in almost all cases will consist of
a seemingly insignificant piece of hardware called a router.
Routers are valuable for their ability to protect an organization's network. Networks are
protected due to hardware features built into the router and by additional software.
These hardware features may consist of Virtual Private Network (VPN) Encryption Acceleration
or Hardware Assisted Compression with Internet Protocol Payload Compression Protocol (IPPCP)
while software features may consist of Firewall Protection, Intrusion Detection Systems
(IDS), and Secure Shell (SSHv1). By investing in an integrated services router for your
business, you dramatically reduce the risk of your network being compromised.
With cyber crime on the rise, network security should be at the forefront of any business plan.
This is especially true for small to medium sized businesses which can lack the necessary
capital to recover from such breaches thus leading to an early demise.
A study conducted by The Computer Security Institute with the participation of the San Francisco
Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) Computer Intrusion Squad discovered that cyber crime
occurs quite frequently, in fact, it occurs much more often than businesses realize. The results
of the study provided by securitystats.com have been provided below:
- 85% detected computer security breaches within the last twelve months
- 64% acknowledged financial losses due to computer breaches
- 35% were willing and/or able to quantify their financial losses. These 186 respondents reported $377,828,700 in financial losses
- The most serious financial losses occurred through theft of proprietary information (34 respondents reported $151,230,100) and financial fraud (21 respondents reported $92,935,500)
- More respondents (70%) cited their Internet connection as a frequent point of attack than cited their internal systems as a frequent point of attack (31%)
- The rise in those citing their Internet connections as a frequent point of attack rose from 59% to 70%
- 36% reported the intrusions to law enforcement
- 40% detected system penetration
- 38% detected denial of service attacks
- 91% detected employee abuse of Internet access privileges
- 95% detected computer viruses (only 85% detected them in 2000)
These reported losses are significant and debilitating to even our nation's largest companies.
In order for businesses to protect themselves and continually flourish, they must understand
that there is opposition in all things. Organizations must understand that cyber crime is a
business, a business incapable of thriving without neglect. Rather than neglecting your
network, protect it by layering and creating a solid front line with the aid of an integrated
services router. Not only will your network be protected, it can also be streamlined and made
to accommodate your growing business.
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