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• In 2016, the Mirai botnet took down the internet for many in the U.S. The attack was
reported to be “likely the largest of its kind in history ... [and] roughly twice as powerful as
any similar attack on record.”

Threat 10: Brute Force Attack

• A brute force attack is when a hacker attempts to crack a password using a program to
decode encrypted data (such as passwords or Data Encryption Standard keys) with manual,
repetitive effort.

• GitHub fell victim to one of the largest brute force attacks in 2013, when 40,000 unique IP
addresses attempted brute force logins.

Combat: Eliminate Brute Force and Botnet Attacks

• A critical defense against brute force and botnet attacks is to centrally collect, archive and
analyze security device logs to generate forensic reports. From there, it’s key to inform users
of all possible network attacks and security breaches in your network, active viruses in the
network, anomalies in the firewall policies, and how to rectify them all.

Beyond that, use a wide range of reports for external threat monitoring, change
management, and regulatory compliance.

Conclusion

As you can see, network security faces endless enemies and threats, making proper monitoring
software more critical than ever. But beyond that, it’s important to stay aware of what security
threats your network faces to proactively prevent disaster and to effectively restore service
when it does occur.

Security in 2017 is no easy feat, but with the proper knowledge and awareness, enabled by
reporting and monitoring tools, anyone can secure their network and combat the ever-growing
minefield of cyber threats.

About the Author

Summer ParkerPerry is a product evangelist at ManageEngine, the real-time IT
management company and division of Zoho Corporation.

For more information on ManageEngine, the real-time IT management
company, please visit www.manageengine.com; follow the company blog at
http://blogs.manageengine.com, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ManageEngine and
on Twitter @ManageEngine.

64 Cyber Warnings E-Magazine – May 2017 Edition
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