Actu
Ease v safety
June 2022 by Patrick Houyoux, LL.M. ULB, Brussels, Trinity College, Cambridge, UK. President – Director PT SYDECO
Although we are in different registers, we can say that just as the BEST is the enemy of GOOD, EASE is the enemy of SECURITY. Two different registers, in fact, since the search for BETTER is the fact of wanting to surpass oneself in the accomplishment of a task and/or in the goal sought, whereas EASE, an expression of laziness, is a destructive element of SAFETY.
This reflection also makes sense when applied to the field of computer security.
For example, succumbing to the easy way out by choosing an easy-to-remember password or relying on a third party (Password Manager) to create and manage passwords is the exact opposite of what should be done when you want to prioritise the security of your data or your information system.
The same is true of the so-called HYPER-CONVERGENT systems that offer a global solution to meet all the IT needs, including the security needs, of its customers. These systems, which are in flagrant contradiction with MICRO SEGMENTATION, the golden rule of any information or industrial security architecture, lead to many disasters. We have seen this with SolarWinds, or with Kaseya, to mention only the best known cases and their tens of thousands of victims.
When a virus penetrates a hyper-convergent system, all the doors of the system are open to it, whereas if the system is built according to the so-called micro-segmentation architecture, the virus will only be able to attack the part of the system that it has managed to penetrate.
It is therefore a choice that every Internet user has to make, between the search for ease and the search for computer security, knowing that in both cases there is a price to pay: While on the one hand, the easy way out risks causing financial damage that can be very significant (loss of data, money, Ransomware,,,), on the other hand, the search for security involves personal investment, in the case of passwords, or financial costs (investments), in the case of the construction of the computer network.
In any case, it must be remembered that the human factor (the user) is the weakest link in the security of any computer system and that it is necessary to protect him when he is at home as much as when he is in a professional environment.
If an antivirus is necessary, an intelligent firewall is even more so, especially if it is coupled with a VPN server that does not rely on any external party. This is the protection that PT SYDECO offers with its PICCOLO which protects the user at home or any IoT or small business, thanks to its intelligent firewall and VPN server.
