No matter what sort of business you are involved in, there seem to be potential threats lurking around every corner. Ransomware is on the rise and newer, more insidious scams seem to be popping up everywhere. Hackers are getting smarter too, leveling attacks for any number of reasons. Sometimes it’s enough just to gain access to a network in order to deploy malware that will look like it originates from your servers – a devious little trick to encourage people to open an email, click on a link, download a virus, Trojan or encryption kit. Since it looks like it’s coming from a legitimate source, this tactic is often very successful.
The problem is, the criminals are not going away anytime soon. In fact, if recent statistics are any indication, they’re just getting started. 2015 saw the number of zero-day vulnerabilities explode at a whopping 125% over the previous year’s incidents. Phishing campaigns that directly target employees increased by more than 55%, and it can be generally concluded that no business is without risk.
Ultimately, cyber thieves will continue to evolve their methods, so how do you keep up? You can educate your workforce as to how to avoid falling into the most common traps, but there are many more ways for a diligent hacker to gain access to your network, and keeping up with where these threats are coming from is a full time job unto itself. The need has never been greater for a network security tool like Packet Viper. It’s a solution whose time has come.
Blocking Illegitimate Network Traffic
Think of it this way: it’s like a gridlocked border crossing at rush hour, but only a few of those vehicles actually has a legitimate destination. The rest are just meant to cause havoc on the road, each trying to pass through security with what seems on the surface to be a benign enough purpose. The illegitimate traffic doesn’t get through, largely because a high-tech security team is able to identify where it is coming from and can take it off the road completely. It frees up a few lanes, speeds up the flow and secures your perimeter while ensuring that any related vehicles or drivers aren’t able to gain access no matter how many times they try. In fact, their security protocols can single out complex data sets based on drive patterns, license plate numbers and so on, enabling them to prevent the undesirables from getting through. In essence, this is how Packet Viper works.
Advanced Geo-Filtering by IP address
Over the years, it has been observed that the majority of internet threats originate from only ten countries. This does not necessarily mean the hackers are located in these countries, just that they are running their packets through vulnerable systems within those countries. Hackers then route their traffic through open proxies in order to amplify their efforts, making it look like the attacks are coming from a multitude of originating points in order to hide recognizable patterns that could be picked up by even the most basic network security protocols.
Geo-filtering is just one way in which Packet Viper secures your network and protects your company from malicious attacks. Some of the other ways it provides protection includes:
Block specific ports within a geographical region: for example, you could be blocking traffic in and out of Russia. Maybe you allow your web port to be visible but not your mail server port.
Whitelists: Packet Viper maintains IP addresses of thousands of companies, and will gauge your incoming and outgoing traffic based on these lists before it goes on to geo-blocking. For instance, you may be blocking a specific country, but a legitimate company within that country will be allowed access.
Customizable access rules: create your own set of rules and whitelists, and fine tune them with Packet Viper’s geo-targeting.
Port filtering: apply different policies to inbound and outbound traffic. This serves several purposes, but most importantly it can prevent hackers from gaining access to your system for exfiltration purposes – in other words, releasing malicious data into the world from within your network.
You’ll Immediately Notice the Difference
After deploying Packet Viper, you’ll first notice a dramatic decrease in malicious traffic. The less traffic, the less potential for a successful attack. Packet Viper even reduces the load on your other anti-virus software, and is able to drop most threats before they even reach your firewall. This allows your other network security tools to work more efficiently overall.
There is virtually nothing that is easier to deploy as well. One user reported they were able to install two instances of Packet Viper in less than thirty minutes, reducing the CPU load on their cloud platform by 35%. With virtually unlimited configuration options and nightly updates to their list of malicious IP addresses, you can be confident that your network is always protected, no matter what the threat.
CCG is Packet Viper
If you’re looking for a new approach to network security, CCG Telecom has the answer. Check out the new features and upgrades in the latest release of Packet Viper, and if you have any questions, call to speak to one of our network security technicians about getting started today.