Toronto, Canada – November 2, 2015 — Priority Networks (https://prioritynetworks.ca/), a Toronto-based computer network company offering complete network installation and maintenance, is weighing in on research aimed at defending networks from an insider threat.

Many of the security precautions currently being devised or implemented to guard against cyber hacks or threats to a computer network are done so to prevent or react to external threats. But researchers are now looking for ways to design software that prevents against insider threats.

“Of course businesses and organizations are going to be more concerned about outside threats to its computer networks,” says Massimo DeRocchis, President of Priority Networks. “But being able to protect your network from internal threats is just as important. You have to think about the potential damage. And at the end of the day, both an external or internal breach have the potential to cause the same amount of damage.”

The National Science Foundation has responded by launching Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace to fund research for internal cyber threats. They are hoping researchers can identify vulnerabilities and create strategies for protecting networks and reacting to these threats.
(Source: Margetta, R., “Cybersecurity research looks to guard networks from insider threats,” October 16, 2015 https://phys.org/news/2015-10-cybersecurity-networks-insider-threats.html)

“The National Science Foundation is certainly taking a huge step by launching this initiative,” DeRocchis continues. “The industry has been so concerned with finding ways to prevent against terrorists threats or just general hackers that the threat of insiders accessing sensitive information hasn’t received much attention.”

What’s distinctive about this initiative is that Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace is not differentiating between intentional and unintentional internal threats. This means they have acknowledged that negligence could be just as crucial of a vulnerability as a planned cyberattack.

“I think what’s important to keep in mind is that real people are accessing these networks so you can almost count on the fact that there will be some mistakes,” concludes DeRocchis. “This initiative is taking all possibilities into account. So hopefully all possibilities will be accounted for and preventable. And for instances when they are not preventable, there are reactionary procedures in place.”

DeRocchis says that Priority Networks takes the time to analyze the networks of all small businesses they work with. The intention is to develop a security system with procedures which are proactive rather than always having to react.

Learn more about Priority Networks at https://prioritynetworks.ca/.

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