Computer security: key aspects of information and data protection

At KISS Software, we protect fintech startups, online stores, and manufacturing companies, and we have long been convinced that simple antivirus software cannot solve all problems. True computer security is built around people, processes, and technology—at all levels. We will discuss this in more detail below with our expert Yevhen Kasyanenko.

Computer security – why is it important?

Hackers try to break into other people’s networks almost every minute. By the end of 2024, businesses had lost $8.3 trillion due to cyber fraudsters. Almost half of the attacks were on small and medium-sized companies—criminals are confident that such firms do not have the money to defend themselves.

Computer security is no longer just about antivirus software. It’s about how not to lose money, customers, and reputation due to a single data leak. To avoid getting caught out, it is important to protect your network, monitor threats, and call in specialists in good time. Only a systematic approach provides real protection, rather than a false sense of security.

“Information security is not an additional expense. It is insurance for your brand against bankruptcy,” assures Yevhen Kasyanenko.

Major security threats in computer networks

The world of digital attacks can be divided into four categories. Knowing them makes it easier to build defenses.

Malware – an invisible danger in one click

This includes Trojans, encryption viruses, and spyware. For example, in 2024, LokiLocker infected 2,000 European companies, demanding 2 bitcoins for data decryption.

We would like to describe three steps that reduce the risk of infection:

• Update your OS and software immediately after patches are released.
• Use antivirus software with behavioral analysis.
• Train your employees to recognize malicious attachments.

If you perform regular updates and supplement this with staff training, you will significantly reduce the likelihood of infection several times over.

Phishing – an attack on trust

Modern hackers are increasingly attacking people rather than systems. Phishing is when fraudsters pretend to be a bank, a service, or even your colleague to lure out passwords and access.

Even Tesla almost fell victim to this once: employees received an email from “management” asking them to change their passwords urgently. Everything looked convincing, but it was a trap. Fortunately, the protection worked in time.

What helps? Vigilance. Check the sender’s address, don’t click on suspicious links, and be sure to enable two-factor authentication. It’s simple and can save the entire system.

DDoS attacks – a blow to business

When thousands of fake requests flood the server at once, the site simply stops working. This is DDoS—one of the most common types of cyberattacks. It is used by blackmailers and competitors to paralyze businesses.

For example, in 2022, Google itself was hit: its servers were flooded with 46 million requests per second—the largest DDoS attack at the time. The attack lasted more than a month and was launched from thousands of IP addresses in hundreds of countries. It looked like a “technical glitch,” but in reality, it was an attempt to bring down services and paralyze the work of customers around the world. Fortunately, Google’s security system handled the incident.

So it is possible to defend against DDoS attacks – traffic filters and server solutions help by cutting off malicious requests before the site starts to “crash.”

Internal threats – danger within the company

Sometimes the main vulnerability is not in the system, but in people. Someone accidentally sent a file to the wrong place, someone took the customer database when they left the company, and someone else set their password to “12345.” It is precisely these little things that most often cause leaks. Therefore, it is important not only to set up protection, but also to teach the team basic cyber hygiene.

How to reduce risks:

• Only give access to those who really need it.
• Implement control systems (such as DLP, which tracks suspicious activity).

“Teach your team cyber hygiene: if people understand that data is valuable, they behave differently,” advises Yevhen Kasyanenko.

Basic concepts of computer security and protection methods

Computer security is not about “installing antivirus software and forgetting about it.” It’s about how to protect your data from hacking, leaks, and accidental failures. There are more and more threats, and in order to avoid getting caught out, it’s important not just to tick a box on a checklist, but to understand where the weak points are and how to really close them.

Confidentiality, integrity, availability (CIA)

The three pillars of cybersecurity are confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Without them, a system is like a house without a foundation: beautiful on the outside, but everything can collapse at the most unexpected moment.

• Confidentiality means that no one who is not supposed to have access to your data can get it. This includes role-based access control (RBAC), multi-factor authentication, and encryption—all for one purpose: to keep outsiders out of the system.
• Integrity means that data remains as you created it. No accidental losses, no “black boxes” in Excel. Digital signatures, version control, and hashes are used so that everything can be rolled back to how it was.
• Availability means that everything works when you need it to. Backup servers, monitoring, DDoS protection, and backup channels ensure that the service doesn’t go down on weekends or during sales.

If confidentiality, integrity, or availability fails somewhere, the first to suffer are the customers, the money, and the company’s reputation. Reliable protection is when all three pillars are maintained simultaneously.

Security audit and threat modeling

An audit is necessary to identify weaknesses in advance and close them before hackers notice them. According to our expert, when conducting an audit, it is important to pay particular attention to several key risk areas.

Asset inventory:

• we compile a list of servers, workstations, services, accounts, and transmitted data;
• we record who is responsible for what and what security measures are already in place;
• we note the criticality of each asset for the business.

Vulnerability search:

• scanners run operating systems, databases, and websites through databases of known vulnerabilities.
• Then, specialists manually check the settings: which ports are open, where old protocols still exist, and who has been granted unnecessary privileges.
• The result is a list of problems with CVSS scores and specific recommendations on what to fix first.

Penetration test:

• the team acts as an external or internal attacker: attempts to gain access to the network, elevate privileges, and extract data;
• we record the entry point, the path of advancement, and the level of damage that can be achieved;
• we issue a technical report and a brief summary for management.

Risk map and priority work plan:

• we compare the probability of vulnerability and possible damage;
• we prioritize tasks according to the principle of “high risk – first in line”;
• we include not only technical but also organizational measures (password policy, regular updates, staff training).

“A full audit with threat modeling usually allows you to catch up to 80% of serious vulnerabilities in advance. And the best part is that most of them can be eliminated without major costs. It is enough to organize access rights, install updates regularly, and agree on clear security rules,” notes Yevhen Kasyanenko.

Antivirus, firewall, and VPN

Don’t forget about:

• Next-generation antivirus—blocking known and unknown threats.
• Firewall—filtering suspicious traffic.
• VPN with end-to-end encryption—protecting remote employees.

Comprehensive protection, security audits, and modern technologies reduce the risk of cyberattacks and provide reliable data protection.

Business protection: why is a professional approach important?

Cybersecurity mistakes are not just failures. They result in reputational damage, data leaks, business process interruptions, and real money leaking through holes in the system. To avoid this, more and more companies are choosing a professional approach, from outsourcing to constant monitoring.

Outsourcing computer security

If there are problems, they need to be solved. Here’s what to look for:

• 24/7 monitoring without expanding your staff;
• access to modern technologies without capital expenditures;
• Reduced incident response time.

According to Gartner, companies with MSSPs reduce incident damage by 38%.

Penetration tests: vulnerability testing

A penetration test is an agreed-upon attempt to hack into a company in the same way a real attacker would. The goal is not to cause harm, but to show where the defenses are failing. In practice, it looks like this:

• The team checks the external perimeter: websites, cloud services, public IP addresses.
• Then it assesses the internal network: it tries to elevate privileges, gain access to the database, and block critical services.
• All actions are logged so that they can be reproduced and corrected.

For each vulnerability found, the risk, possible damage, and step-by-step attack path are indicated. Recommendations are ranked by criticality: what to close urgently, what can be planned.

“Such mechanisms should be carried out at least once a year and definitely after major changes – migration to the cloud, launch of a new feature, merger with another company. If a breach has occurred, it is worth making sure that the hole is closed and there are no side loopholes left. Regular testing helps to maintain the level of protection in practice,” assures Yevhen Kasyanenko.

SOC – round-the-clock threat monitoring

The system compares logs with a database of attack templates in real time. If a match is found, the criticality level instantly increases – the average detection time is reduced from days to minutes.

SOC allows you to:

• correlate events and instantly identify anomalies;
• run automatic response scenarios (SOAR) – IP blocking, host isolation, notification of the responsible person;
• conduct forensics and generate reports for regulators.

Connecting to a ready-made SOC-as-a-Service significantly saves money compared to setting up your own center: there is no need for capital expenditures on equipment, licenses, and a round-the-clock staff of analysts.

How to protect your data? Simple but important computer security tips

Even without a large budget, you can block most common threats. The main thing is discipline and consistency. Remember all the basics of computer security and apply the rules not just once, but constantly.

Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication

Create a long passphrase. It should contain 12-15 characters, mix words, numbers, punctuation marks, and do not duplicate it on other services. Add 2FA – a one-time code in the application or a hardware token. If an attacker guesses the password, the second factor will stop them.

Update your software

Your operating system, browser, antivirus, and plugins should patch themselves. This reduces the window of vulnerability from weeks to hours—hackers simply don’t have time to take advantage of the new hacking opportunity.

Be careful with emails and attachments

Connect to a cloud-based isolated environment. Attachments are opened in an isolated environment, and links are checked against a reputation database. The user sees only sanitized content, and suspicious files are blocked until clicked.

Make backups

No protection is 100% guaranteed. A failure, an encryption virus, or simply human error can leave you without important data. That’s why backing up is not just an option, but a mandatory rule:

• Store backups in different places: both in the cloud and on physical media.
• Check that the copies can actually be restored—don’t put it off until an emergency.
• Set up a regular schedule—automation is your best friend here.

One backup can save your entire business. No joke.

Restrict employee access

Employees should be given only the rights they need to do their job today. A new role means new rights. Periodic account audits remove the “hangers-on” of former employees and reduce the attack surface.

As Yevhen Kasyanenko notes, these five basic measures cut the risk of a massive attack by more than half and cost significantly less than dealing with the consequences of a breach.

Computer security is an investment in the future

Cyber threats evolve faster than any software release. According to European statistics, information leaks cost companies an average of €4.7 million, and indirect costs—downtime, lawyers, and reputational damage—add another third of that amount. This is critical for small businesses: six out of ten companies with fewer than 250 employees do not survive six months after a serious cyber incident.

“It is cheaper to build a secure architecture from scratch than to pay fines later. Our projects pay for themselves in an average of seven months by reducing downtime and costs,” emphasizes Yevhen Kasyanenko.

While some spend their nights recovering from hacks, others scale their sales, knowing that their protective perimeter is working. Choose the second strategy—contact us. The KISS Software team will build a system that not only repels attacks but also grows with your business.