With the use of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others on the rise, so are many new potential security threats to small to midsize businesses working with these sites. As we all know social media sites can grow our SMB’s exposure and generate more revenue for the company in some cases. Marketing on social media sites is a must for all different types of businesses, so shutting down access to them in the workplace all together in order to curb security risks is impossible. However since there are so many new cases of accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and other sites being hacked, it is extremely easy for a user to click on a link that a friend posted on their wall and cause their computer to become infected with a virus.
So now that we know that using social media is essential these days for our SMB to grow, how can SMB owners or IT guys protect the security of the company? Right now, Wedge Networks is beefing up their content inspection network to also monitor social media and Web application traffic to prevent viruses and other security risks. Wedge Networks CEO Hongwen Zhang says that the “allow-or-block” paradigm for social media is extremely counterproductive in this technological age.
“For SMBs to really have an iron-clad security grasp–basically, banning social media–is simply not possible,” Zhang said in an interview.
That’s not to say that companies should encourage the use of social media in any shape or form. For example employees shouldn’t be using social media to tweet about their lunch plans on the clock. This of course should be something that CEOs should include in their policies and procedures manual.
Wedge Networks new BeSecure feature will act as an online traffic cop for social media sites to try and track down malware and nip the problem in the bud. Wedge Networks will monitor the things coming in and out of social media sites even if it is supposedly coming from a safe source. Think about how much time that is going to save you as an IT guy. According to an article on InformationWeek:
“Rather than categorize sources as “good” or “bad,” it takes a look at what’s behind it–looking for something like a recently injected malicious script in an otherwise “good” site. Likewise, the device monitors outbound traffic for sensitive data; administrators can enact policy-based rules that look for particular types or formats of information that could pose a risk.”
The most difficult aspect of protecting your computer from social media security threats is that each individual at a company sets up his or her own security settings on their personal desktops or laptops, this is why if companies choose to use Wedge Networks services, all computers that are a part of your SMB can be easily monitored. While large companies can block social media sites across the board, SMB’s need the access to these sites for exposure and marketing needs across the board. Check out Wedge Networks right here for more information.
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