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Computer Support in Knoxville Helps Prevent Digital Fires Through Firewalls

Prevent Little Fires from Starting

Computer support in Knoxville can be an essential part of safeguarding systems. The larger your network, the more likely it is you’ll need a firewall. Granted, this isn’t the only network security solution available, but even though it’s been around a while, it is still one of the most secure means of safeguarding operations.

How Does A Firewall Work?

Basically, a firewall blocks certain networks from having access to yours. As you grant permissions, trusted networks can be let in, but without permissions, toxic networks are left out.

Without a firewall, holes are made and gradually widen over time. It’s just like when a garment gets a rip in it that isn’t sewed up. Eventually, that rip becomes a gash, and then you can’t wear that particular pair of pants anymore, and they’re either thrown up or made into rags. Well, with your network, hackers at statistically predictable intervals are going to “case out” your systems and try to break in. Sometimes they’ll be successful, sometimes they won’t be, but most networks are put “under the gun” by a hacker at some time. Statistics have it that around 50% of small businesses are hacked on a yearly basis, and cybercrime alone is an industry set to be worth $2 trillion by 2019. This means there’s a one in two chance you’ve already been “hacked” and don’t know it.

Certainly, there are going to be scenarios where company protocols, anti-virus solutions and anti-malware software all come together to protect your network, small or large; but concerted hack-attacks definitely leave their mark. Computer support in Knoxville can help find where weakened areas in your system need to be patched up as technicians are going about putting in protections like firewalls. They can cover all the “holes.”

Size and Vulnerability

There is a balance between size and vulnerability. Too small and too large suffer from similar problems. A tiny network can be crushed; a big network has bigger holes. Large networks get exceptional holes for a number of basic reasons:

  • More users make more mistakes
  • Larger networks are larger targets
  • Digital infrastructural harmony can tax systems, creating vulnerabilities
  • Tech upgrades take longer to apply

Firewalls are a cost-effective way of preventing many of these issues. Your biggest compromise will be from internal users making mistakes. Oftentimes, these happen because an email is clicked on that should not have been; though sometimes ransomware and other malware viruses are downloaded for different reasons.

For example, the recent “WannaCry” virus jumped onto systems that weren’t properly patched through those systems’ SMB ports. Basically, the NSA put backdoor monitoring software into many Windows computers which eventually made their way around the world. Hackers found out about these holes back in March and had a worm designed by May, which spent a week causing havoc internationally. Networks in over 150 countries were compromised, but those who were relevant on their tech news and got the patch transitioned through the storm safely. This is yet another reason to source top-tier support from a local MSP.

Getting Your Firewall Installed

Computer support in Knoxville through Allevia Technology specializes in firewall tech, among other things. Contact us for top-tier, informed support to safeguard your systems.

Stefan Wilson

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