Cybersecurity: Protect yourself!

Why and how to effectively protect your website, applications, and data?

Audit, tools and best practices: securing your site and data

Every day, thousands of websites and applications fall victim to cyberattacks. Yet, the majority of companies do not adopt the right strategies to protect their online platforms. An audit is not enough; concrete actions, effective tools, a clear methodology, and human awareness are needed.

In this article, we go beyond traditional recommendations. We present you with advanced tools, best technical practices, a psychological approach, as well as proven methods to effectively secure your website, applications, and data.

1. Map the risks with an offensive approach

Adopt a proactive stance

Why?

The attacks are constantly evolving.

It is not enough to install a firewall and cross your fingers. Adopting an offensive posture means identifying your own vulnerabilities before an attacker can exploit them.

Scan for vulnerabilities

With what tools?

Here are some essential tools for identifying vulnerabilities in your website and applications:

Open Source Solutions :

Nmap Mapping the open ports and exposed services.
Nikto Analyse web configurations and detect common vulnerabilities.
OWASP ZAP Identify XSS vulnerabilities, SQL injections, and configuration errors.
WPScan (for WordPress): Checks for CMS-specific vulnerabilities.

Paid Solutions :

BurpSuite Pro More comprehensive than the free version, with advanced scans.
Qualys Web Application Scanning For automated and detailed analyses.
Invicti (formerly Netsparker): Automatic detection of vulnerabilities and guided fixes.
F5 Its technologies include application firewalls (WAF), anti-DDoS solutions, and identity and access management tools, thereby ensuring robust and scalable security for businesses.

Recommended methodology

Perform an automatic vulnerability scan every month.
Analyse the results and rank the risks by criticality.
Correct the priority vulnerabilities by applying the recommendations from the tools.
Conduct regular audits with experts to identify complex threats.

2. Secure the human element:

Psychology and best practices

Cybersecurity does not solely rely on technology. 90% of successful cyberattacks are due to human error. That is why it is essential to focus on education and behaviour.

Understand

The psychological biases in cybersecurity

The illusion of invulnerability:
Many believe that only large companies are targeted.
The paralysing fear:
Too much information about risks can lead to inaction.
Cognitive overload:
A security policy that is too complex can be circumvented by employees who are looking to simplify their tasks.

Solutions

and awareness

Train the employees :
Phishing attack simulations with KnowBe4 or Cofense.
Set up accessible security alerts:
Cybersecurity monitoring dashboard.
Simplifying best practices:
Clear rules on password management and access to sensitive data.
Create a cybersecurity culture:
Ongoing awareness and gamification of training.

3. Secure your applications and data

Protect

APIs and web applications

APIs and web applications are a prime target for hackers. A single vulnerability in a poorly secured API can lead to a massive data breach.

Limit API permissions:
Only provide strictly necessary access
Implement authentication tokens:
OAuth 2.0, JWT for secure control
Monitor the activity of requests with tools like API Security Gateway
Establish strict security policies:
Validation of inputs/outputs, limitation of requests, monitoring of logs.

Secure

Data storage

Mandatory encryption :
All sensitive data must be encrypted in transit and at rest (AES-256, TLS 1.3).
Strict access management :
Use a Zero Trust model with strong authentication.
Surveillance and audit :
Conduct regular audits to ensure that data remains protected.
Implementation of secure backups :
Data redundancy and rapid recovery in the event of an incident.

4. Why call on a professional?

As you can see, and despite the fact that this article is merely a summary, the management and monitoring of cybersecurity can prove to be complex.

A minimum level of expertise is required to understand and apply best practices.

This can also be very time-consuming, risking putting these essential operations on hold, while they are vital to protect your business.

Expertise

and continuous monitoring

Cybercriminals are constantly innovating. A cybersecurity professional is trained in new threats and adapts strategies according to trends.

Penetration Testing

and advanced audits

Penetration testing is not limited to automated scans. A professional analyses attacker behaviours, identifies complex vulnerabilities, and provides you with a detailed action plan.

According to the IBM report, a company that conducts regular audits reduces the risk of data breaches by 70%.

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