Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 30 | Page 36

FEATURE: THREAT ASSESSMENT gaining access to an account. Authentication that requires a passcode to be sent to a mobile for instance, can help create an additional barrier and protect sensitive information from being compromised. Crucially, software must also be kept up to date. Employees are always working on deadlines and may easily click ‘not now’ or ‘remind me later’ on necessary updates. However, this can go on for weeks, if not months, leaving accounts more open to risks posed by exploit sites. This is an easy, yet vital element of online safety. It is always wise for users to be careful with login requests. Attackers go to great ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// lengths to make their pages appear genuine, but users should check the name of the email address a request has come from. It may include a genuine website’s name, but does it have additional elements which seem unusual? When the user hovers over a URL, does it lead to a strange website? It is best to always approach emails with an eye of scepticism and question where possible. How to protect your email Spam defence must still be effective to keep out unwanted visitors. Defences such as malware and URL blocking are required to help defend against cybercriminals, in addition to integrated sandboxing. MULTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION SHOULD ALSO BE USED TO HELP PREVENT AGAINST AN ATTACKER GAINING ACCESS TO AN ACCOUNT. Businesses need to invest in new technologies to ensure they gain an edge against criminals. This may include the use of advance phishing protections through Machine Learning, or DMARC domain protections to protect a company’s domain and brand identity. Message quarantine functionality is a particularly effective method by which emails can be interrogated and analysed further if a user is unsure about the reliability. Email remediation can also help if a malicious file is detected after delivery. It is inevitable that every organisation will experience cybercrime at some point in its lifetime. It is how they prepare for it and deal with it that is most important. Companies must strike a between being mindful of security and business risk and facilitating smooth user experience. By taking the right steps, businesses can remain connected and reap the benefits of online communication, hyperaware and reactive to threats with reliable security defences. n CIB implements SAS’ enterprise risk and anti-money laundering platforms A leading Egyptian bank has implemented enterprise risk and anti-money laundering platforms from SAS to streamline risk management processes and adhere to both local regulations and global standards regarding advanced analytical monitoring and reporting. 36 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com