Security Beyond the Office
In today’s connected society, work doesn’t start and stop in the office, and neither should your network security. As more people work remotely and use a tablet, laptop, or smartphone to work outside the office, company networks are being infected with malware from devices that are nowhere near the building and thus, aren’t protected by company firewalls.
Fortunately, for our network security clients, that’s about to change as we can extend your firewall to your employees’ mobile devices. WatchGuard, the designer of our managed network security solutions, has created domain name system (DNS) level protection that’s available for mobile devices, even when the device is outside of the company network! This protects both the employee and the company from a disastrous data breach. Read on to learn more about this exciting innovation.
Understanding DNS Protection
The Domain Name System is a system that converts a domain name, like ssystems.net, into an IP address. This way we can easily remember website names rather than complicated strings of numbers. There isn’t just one system converting a site name to an IP address, there are actually several million DNS servers doing this role. Not only do these serve internet websites, the also store device and site names on internal organization networks because those also have IP addresses.
Why is DNS protection important?
The servers converting site names to IP addresses are vulnerable to attack, including:
- Cache poisoning – Inserting corrupt data into a database of the DNS, creating an incorrect IP address and any traffic that goes to the domain name diverts to the hacker’s computer.
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) – Cyber attack of sending continued HTTP requests to a server to shut it down for a period of time.
- Botnets – Cyber attack performed by multiple bots stealing data, sending spam, or performing DDOS attacks.
- DNS Hijacking – Redirects traffic from the domain to another computer
When an organization does not have DNS protection, they are at risk for common network vulnerabilities, including phishing and malware that could be catastrophic, whether it crashes a website, steals data, or shuts down their systems.
How Does DNS Protection Work?
DNS protection guards your organization’s network by filtering content, such as blocking access to unwanted websites (such as adult content) or sites that are suspicious and could lead to a cyber attack. Additionally, it blocks websites that are used for phishing as well as ads that could have spyware attached. Basically, it prevents you and your team from accessing websites and content or opening links that could infect your network.
With WatchGuard, our Total Security Firewall customers have DNSWatch – the WatchGuard firewall. However, once people on the network left the building, they lost DNSWatch protection.
Until now.
Mobile DNS Protection with DNSWatchGo
We are excited to share a new feature of the WatchGuard security suite – DNSWatchGo. This product provides your employees (and your office) with the same DNS-level protection on their mobile devices as they have in-office. Whether they are working from home or having to travel for work, they will have the essential filtering to keep your files and data safe from malware. No need for a VPN!
How Does DNSWatchGo Work?
Like DNSWatch, WatchGo monitors outgoing DNS requests and compares where a user is trying to go versus a list of known malicious sites. Requests that are suspicious or known to be dangerous are blocked and the user is redirected. Because it’s a cloud-based solution, there’s no hardware, and it’s easy to install, deploy, and operate!
Contact Us for Mobile DNS-Level Protection
As business tasks extend outside the office, so does the need for protection! Strategic Systems – A Division of CEI is dedicated to working with Raleigh businesses, providing managed network security solutions that keep your data protected and your business safe. To learn more about DNSWatchGo or any of our other security tools, reach out to us today at (919) 783-1410 or fill out our contact form to get started!