03/12/2018

When did you last review your services…?

We have seen a number of reports this term from schools who have fallen foul of Malware or compromise seemingly as a result of not having current and up to date rules for the schools’ services.  Some of these incidents have involved the police, whereas others have involved the loss of data.

Whilst many are aware of the importance of using Anti Virus/Malware software, and are perhaps keeping software patched and up to date, not everyone considers to look at network or firewall configuration as a source of potential issues.  Software updates come frequently, Anti Virus multiple times a day, Operating System patching once a month (at least), other apps several times a year. It’s all very regular and expected, you maybe even get a pop up on your computer to do it.  But your computer is not prompting you to look at your network configuration or firewall setup, these are typically at the bottom of the list.

We encourage our members to regularly review their service configurations, this does not matter if you have been in role for 5 years, or just started working at the school, it really is good practice to know and review what you have.  We strongly recommend reviewing your configurations, especially your firewall regularly to ensure you are setup in the best possible way.  Settings for old servers and applications might still be in place unless you have asked to remove them. This could be costing you money, putting you at risk of data breach or leaving you open from a security perspective.  Do you have something visible on the Internet you were not aware of?

If you would like help reviewing your firewall configuration we will be happy to help. Please don’t put this off, drop us a line and don’t be open to chance..  support@empsn.org.uk

We have some further information on this topic – https://www.empsn.org.uk/knowledge-base/reviewing-firewall-rules/ 

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