Four Must-know Checkpoints For Beter Cybersecurity
Locking up our homes before we leave the house is second nature to us. Most of us don´t even give this mudane yet
conditioned task much thought although there are many good reasons for doing it. Apart from protecting our homes against the
elements of nature, we primarily want to keep unwelcome intruders out of our safe spaces. Nobody wants to come home to find it
damaged or valuables missing
Data Theft a Major Threat to Companies
The same rationale applies to the companies we work for. Owners would do everything possible to protect it from being damaged
or against theft. These days, the theft of physical assets is not the only concern for company owners: Data theft has become a
major headache. The ugly truth however is that in most workplaces cybersecurity measures are not as much prioritized as
ohysical security measures. This lack of sufficient cybersecurity measures might come as a huge surprise, given the daily
newsfeed of cyberattacks. For businesses to keep their business on a profitable track, an extensive review of their cybersecurity
measures is vital if they don´t want to pay the price for downtime caused by malicious attacks.
Big or Small, Everyone Is a Target
The assumption that a company is not a target based on its size or profile is a serious blunder, as a spike in cyberattacks has
shown us that evry business can be a target. For hackers any business asset, especially data, means money
Furthermore business owner need to change their mindset when it comes to managing cybersecurity, because it will never be a
single product that provides protection ad infinitum. As lon ass cyberthreats keep morphing into different types of beasts
cybersecurity will always be a continuous process of updating security measures and minimizing cybersecurity risks.
The good new is that business owners don´t need to overcomplicate things when they want to ramp up their cybersecurity
Routine cyberhygiene practices can help you spot issues in the early stages in order to take the necessary action. For a well-
maintained system to be less vulnerable to cybersecurity risks, proper tools or capable products are required for efficient
cyberhygiene. The user and the solution provider are qualy responsible to ensure the device and the network are secure
Prevention Is Better Than Cure
As with our homes and families, a few sound precautions can make a huge difference. The following cyberhygiene checkpoints
are essential to establish a secure connection for your field devices.
Checkpoint 1: Make sure the device is password protected and only allows authenticated users to access the system. You would
be surprised how man devices are still keeping the default password for fast access, even though default account names and
passwords can easily be obatined from the Internet by just a few mouseclicks. Good advice is to change your device password
periodically
Checkpoint 2: Reduce the surface areas for attacks. A service or a port in a device is like an open door or window in your house
Thus, having an unused service or port turned on is just as good as leaving a door wide open - a sign of welcome to any hacker
out there In order to reduce unexpected attacks, make sure all of your unused services or ports are turned off and allow real-time
external connectivity only when absolutelly needed
Checkpoint 3: Create a whitelist for your access only. Only allow access and communication from specifiec devies and
connections. Clearly list the IP addresses that have authorization access to networking devices. Subsequently a majority of
unauthorized IP addresses will be blocked
Checkpoint 4: Keep your security patches up-to-date. Security is not a one-time-fix: everday there is a new virus being created
or a new leak being discovered. Therefore it´s essential to update the latest patches to prevent any new cyberattacks
Moxa Solution
Moxa´s serial-to-Ethernet solutions provide different security funcions that meet your various cybersecurity requirements. If you
are interested to find a serial-to-Ethernet device to secure your connection, you can download our checklist to implement
industrial cybersecurity on serial-to-Ethernet devices or use the follwing table to find the product that suits you
The same rationale applies to the companies we work for. Owners would do everything possible to protect it from being damaged
or against theft. These days, the theft of physical assets is not the only concern for company owners: Data theft has become a
major headache. The ugly truth however is that in most workplaces cybersecurity measures are not as much prioritized as
ohysical security measures. This lack of sufficient cybersecurity measures might come as a huge surprise, given the daily
newsfeed of cyberattacks. For businesses to keep their business on a profitable track, an extensive review of their cybersecurity
measures is vital if they don´t want to pay the price for downtime caused by malicious attacks.
Big or Small, Everyone Is a Target
The assumption that a company is not a target based on its size or profile is a serious blunder, as a spike in cyberattacks has
shown us that evry business can be a target. For hackers any business asset, especially data, means money
Furthermore business owner need to change their mindset when it comes to managing cybersecurity, because it will never be a
single product that provides protection ad infinitum. As lon ass cyberthreats keep morphing into different types of beasts
cybersecurity will always be a continuous process of updating security measures and minimizing cybersecurity risks.
The good new is that business owners don´t need to overcomplicate things when they want to ramp up their cybersecurity
Routine cyberhygiene practices can help you spot issues in the early stages in order to take the necessary action. For a well-
maintained system to be less vulnerable to cybersecurity risks, proper tools or capable products are required for efficient
cyberhygiene. The user and the solution provider are qualy responsible to ensure the device and the network are secure
Prevention Is Better Than Cure
As with our homes and families, a few sound precautions can make a huge difference. The following cyberhygiene checkpoints
are essential to establish a secure connection for your field devices.
Checkpoint 1: Make sure the device is password protected and only allows authenticated users to access the system. You would
be surprised how man devices are still keeping the default password for fast access, even though default account names and
passwords can easily be obatined from the Internet by just a few mouseclicks. Good advice is to change your device password
periodically
Checkpoint 2: Reduce the surface areas for attacks. A service or a port in a device is like an open door or window in your house
Thus, having an unused service or port turned on is just as good as leaving a door wide open - a sign of welcome to any hacker
out there In order to reduce unexpected attacks, make sure all of your unused services or ports are turned off and allow real-time
external connectivity only when absolutelly needed
Checkpoint 3: Create a whitelist for your access only. Only allow access and communication from specifiec devies and
connections. Clearly list the IP addresses that have authorization access to networking devices. Subsequently a majority of
unauthorized IP addresses will be blocked
Checkpoint 4: Keep your security patches up-to-date. Security is not a one-time-fix: everday there is a new virus being created
or a new leak being discovered. Therefore it´s essential to update the latest patches to prevent any new cyberattacks
Moxa Solution
Moxa´s serial-to-Ethernet solutions provide different security funcions that meet your various cybersecurity requirements. If you
are interested to find a serial-to-Ethernet device to secure your connection, you can download our checklist to implement
industrial cybersecurity on serial-to-Ethernet devices or use the follwing table to find the product that suits you