5 signs of a security breach

Unusual Activity

The first thing that an employee may notice is unusual activity on one of their accounts or the main system that they work on, which can have occurred when their device was off or that it’s happening in the background when they are working. If they remain undetected, a cyber criminal can do a lot of damage to an IT system and said damage could end up putting a company on its knees while they try to find a way to fix the system. Other activity that could immediately flag a possible security breach is a login attempt from an unknown location on an unknown device.

Locked Accounts

Something a hacker will always look for is a way to get into a privileged employees’ account and if they manage to get access, they could not only get their hands on a lot of sensitive information and private credentials such as bank details, but they could also do a lot of damage to others from that account. If a company does not recognise activity from a locked account and deal with it, then it can not only potentially harm others but also very quickly harm the company itself, since others will think that anything harmful that’s sent out is from them and will be believed to be bad and unreliable.

Signs of Tampering

The tampering of a device can happen from a remote location or in the office and signs that it has happened can be anything from strange tool bars that you know you didn’t open, to fake alerts / warnings and messages sent from your device that you didn’t send. Employees that are in the possession of devices that have been and are suspected of being tampered with, should avoid using those devices from that moment forward and hand them over to the correct colleagues in their IT department.

Device and Network Problems

Some signs that a security breach has happened is a device becoming very slow suddenly. Something that was running normally before and suddenly crashing, can be linked to a virus or malware on a device so it shouldn’t be ignored and if thought to be linked to a security breach should be taken to an expert.

Changes in Settings

To avoid detection, hackers will go into a device either on-site or remotely and turn off the security tools and / or firewall. This would normally allow the device to detect or deter a cyber threat and if the device has other settings like antivirus software, then they would switch that off too so there would be no chance of getting rid of anything like malware once it’s put onto the device. Should you ever discover that the security settings have been deactivated on your device you should reactivate them immediately, or if you are unsure of what to do, take the device to an expert straight away.

Disaster Recovery

It is impossible to predict and prevent disasters and downtime. This is why it is crucial to have a Disaster Recovery Plan in place so that you are prepared for every eventuality. It is impossible to predict and prevent disasters and downtime. This is why it is crucial to have a Disaster Recovery Plan in place so that you are prepared for every eventuality.

Matrix’s highly qualified team of technical engineers can put systems in place to help you should a disaster take place. Our Disaster Recovery solutions can also be tailored to suit your business’ individual requirements.