Your Network Could Be Vulnerable Inside The Firewall

Top internal network security threats include USB thumb drives, any laptop or netbook, wireless access points and many other common network components. The lesson: just because you have security appliances in place doesn't mean you're secure.

"Today's state-of-the-art network security appliances do a great job of keeping the cyber monsters from invading your business. But what do you do when the monster is actually inside the security perimeter? Unfortunately, all of the crosses, garlic, wooden stakes and silver bullets in the world have little effect on today's most nefarious cyber creatures. Here are the top 10 ways your network can be attacked from inside and what you can do to insure your business never has to perform an exorcism on your servers.

1. USB thumb drives: Believe it or not, USB drives are actually one of, if not the most, common ways you can infect a network from inside a firewall. There are several reasons for this; they're inexpensive, small, hold a lot of data and can be used between multiple computer types. The ubiquity of thumb drives has driven hackers to develop targeted malware, such as the notorious Conficker worm, that can automatically execute upon connecting with a live USB port. What's worse is that default operating system configurations typically allow most programs (including malicious ones) to run automatically. That's the equivalent of everyone in your neighborhood having an electric garage door opener and being able to use it to open everyone else's garage doors."