When you’re at the helm of a small business, there’s seemingly no end of waves rocking the boat. You have to buy stock, market your services or products, find reliable staff, chase invoices and more – all while trying to build a reputation for quality and reliability. It often means IT security takes a back seat, particularly when it comes to something as seemingly mundane as upgrading your servers. But your business exists in a completely interconnected world, which means that securing your servers is as important as locking your doors.
Why Should You Care About Server Upgrades?
In a world where trillion-pound companies are no longer a fantasy, it’s easy for a small business owner to feel safe from hackers because there are much bigger fish to fry. Honestly, why would someone go after your business when, by comparison, there’s so little to take?
Unfortunately, the case is essentially the opposite, with small businesses the target in 51% of cybercrimes, based on Markel UK’s 2021 survey.
Essentially, hackers recognise that small businesses are under greater strain and have fewer resources dedicated to IT security, making them prime targets.
Thus, the vast majority of small businesses are unaware of just how open something as critical as their servers – the place where an online business, including all its precious data, essentially “lives” – can be.
The odds are that you’re a viable target and don’t even know it.
The Security Risks of Delaying Upgrades
It’s a simple fact of business that a cyberattack can be devastating, costing businesses in the UK £736 million in 2021. One of the easiest ways to end up the victim of such an attack is to have out-of-date servers.
Firstly, old servers stop receiving patches and support for their operating systems. Take, for example, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Support for both these server OSs ceased in January 2020, meaning any business still using them is running a substantially increased risk of being hacked.
However, even if you keep paying for server support, your old hardware will still be a far more attractive target to criminals than a newer system. Patches and updates can keep old systems going, but at a certain point, they won’t be able to keep up with the demands you’re making of them. Nor will they be able to resist the attacks that keep coming at them.
Upgrade to Windows Server 2022 and Strengthen Your Server Security
Of course, it’s easy to point out flaws, but how about some solutions? Well, if you’re looking to upgrade your servers, look no further than Windows Server 2022. Aside from easy integration with Microsoft Azure, for seamless and secure cloud backup, Server 2022 is also strong on the security front. For example:
-
Firmware attack prevention: Extended threats and attacks occur during a server restart via firmware. Technologies such as DRTM (Dynamic Root of Trust for Measurement) and DMA (Direct Memory Access) are used to prevent such cyber attacks.
-
Hypervisor security: The hypervisor is protected by virtualisation-based security technology (VBS). This technology isolates individual processes from the operating system. In the event of an attack, the attack does not spread to other parts of the system and avoids the entire server getting compromised.
-
Server Message Block (SMB): The new SMB functionality through QUIC eliminates the need for a VPN for remote workers, mobile users, and highly secure organisations. It uses UDP (Use Datagram Protocol) and ensures that Internet traffic always remains encrypted.
Don’t get too paranoid about server security, but don’t put your head in the sand either. Keeping your server(s) up-to-date will ensure there are locks on your digital doors, keeping your business safe and secure.