What You Need To Know About Both False Positives & False Negatives

Having the right kind of cyber security in place is intrinsic to the success of any IT platform but it is also important to be able to distinguish between the difference of false positives and false negatives with regard to information security. No business can afford to be wasting time looking into false positives because not only does it cost time but it also costs money and essential resources as well.

It also takes your IT team away from things they should be concentrating on like creating a more secure IT platform and coming up with numerous business applications. Ironically, if you miss these same false negatives then this actually increases your overall cyber security risk and it also affects your ability to be able to react to unscrupulous people who are attacking your system.

When it comes to false positives in cyber security, most IT security teams tend to ignore these same false positives and this leads to a knock-on effect when it comes to your overall alertness when it comes to your IT platform. If your staff continues to ignore false positives and they don’t investigate them at all then it can lead to missing very important security alerts that may affect and compromise your whole system.

Then there are the false negatives to deal with and these are cyber threats that are much more advanced and can find their way around even the best antivirus and firewalls put into place.

Everything is about strengthening your overall cyber security and the following are just some things that you need to know when it comes to being proactive, reactive and putting preventative procedures into place.

  • Always assume the worst – You should always assume that someone is trying to breach your system and so it’s better that you go on the offensive so that you can learn about how to find these same cyber security breaches and what to do about them. This will help in your overall defense system and you can use your many defensive and prevention tools so that your platform is more effective.
  • Utilise asset discovery tools – In order to be able to understand your whole network, you need to know exactly what you have and what you are dealing with every single day. This is why you need to take time to understand the hosts, the service that you use and the various applications that your business utilises every single day.
  • Set out clear security policies – Everyone needs to be on board when it comes to your policies and procedures and this includes anyone who has access to IT equipment or your IT platform. You should always be carrying out regular security assessments and putting the necessary training and knowledge in place so that your staff are able to identify security breaches and to bring them to someone’s attention.

This is something that you shouldn’t delay on and so make sure that you protect one of your most valuable assets which is your IT platform and structures. Put the necessary technology into place so that you can find and respond to issues as they come up and this will help to prevent IT data breaches that could cause you to have to close down your business for the day or longer.

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