The Importance of Security: Why a Dedicated Firewall is Essential in 2024

As we navigate through 2024, the digital landscape is more interconnected than ever, making robust cybersecurity practices crucial for organizations of all sizes. Recent statistics reveal a troubling increase in hacking incidents, data breaches, and compromised user information, underscoring the urgent need for effective security measures—particularly dedicated firewalls.

The Alarming Reality of 2024: Hacking Statistics

This year, cyberattacks have surged, with reports indicating that over 60% of businesses experienced a security incident in the first half of 2024 alone. Notable high-profile breaches included major corporations across various sectors, from finance to healthcare. According to the latest data:

• Data breaches exposed sensitive information for over 300 million individuals.

• The average cost of a data breach for companies rose to $4.5 million, with some incidents leading to losses exceeding $10 million.

• Ransomware attacks have increased by 40%, with attackers often targeting companies with insufficient security measures.

These figures are not just statistics; they represent real impacts on businesses, consumers, and the overall trust in digital systems.

Understanding the Role of a Dedicated Firewall

A dedicated firewall acts as a barrier between your internal network and potential external threats. It filters incoming and outgoing traffic based on predetermined security rules, helping to safeguard your sensitive data.

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month!

We can all joke how there seems to be a day or month for almost anything. National Ice Cream Day, National Pet Tricks Day, National Flip Flop Day,…and so many more. And those things have their places, don’t get me wrong. (Actually, Ice Cream Day should be every day in my book, but I digress…) But one topic that almost everyone could take a serious stance on these days - staying safe online. So, with that in mind, Happy Cybersecurity Awareness Month!

According to CISA, for twenty years now, our federal elected officials have “declared October to be Cybersecurity Awareness Month, time dedicated for the public and private sectors to work together to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity.” It’s a great time for the added reminders of changing and strengthening passwords, updating software, and giving your network a wellness check. Are we keeping out what we don’t want on our networks and protecting what we have on there?

If this seems overwhelming, you’re not alone. And we get it. That’s part of why Charleston Security Tech started offering the services we offer. We want to help empower our clients to feel safe within their digital environments. Feel free to reach out with questions or a consultation on your cybersecurity status.

Now, similar to the ice cream thing, Cybersecurity Awareness should not be fleeting. Cybersecurity is important every day of every month. But we do tip our hats to all of the efforts and opportunities that are shared to help make our digital landscape safer for all.

Port scanning

Port scanning is a common technique used by attackers to identify open ports on a device, like a router, which could potentially be exploited for unauthorized access. They use these scans to discover which services are running and whether there are any vulnerabilities that could be exploited.

To protect your network:

• Use a dedicated firewall in inline from you ISP in front of your router

• Ensure your router’s firmware is up to date.

• Use strong, unique passwords for your router and Wi-Fi network.

• Disable any services you don’t need or use.

• Regularly check your router’s logs for any unusual activity.

• Hire us to protect your network :)

If you’re seeing frequent scans or suspicious activity, it might be worth investigating further or consulting with Charleston Security Tech.

Why we started Charleston Security Tech

In our experience, features have not been a problem of working with Cisco and Checkpoint firewalls. The primary obstacle has been cost. When starting Charleston Security Tech, our intent was to a secure the digital landscape for everyday home environment. The obvious need is among remote workers, but so much more. Seemingly all of us have at least some level of online activities we participate in. From utilities and financial management to gaming and social media platforms, we’re all increasingly online. But what’s  increasing at an even faster rate? The risks and vulnerabilities that go along with all modern internet use.

Along with many not-so-obvious vulnerabilities are 1) open attack vectors and 2) exploits of your home networks. Charleston Security Tech was birthed out of the desire to bring this situation to light. The internet’s lack of updated laws and rules of conduct leave it in the state of a wild wild west - legally and ethically. This allows seedy, opportunistic hackers aiming to steal identities, finances, and any personal, or intellectual property that will gain them money. If you connect to the internet, be advised, you are exposed.

We’ve been working with an OpenSource firewall called PFSense, which released its first firewall to the public in 2006. Over the years, PFSense has become a figurative firewall on steroids, formally known as a Cyber Network Defense (CND) suite. No matter what your profession is, this is an array of tools needed to maintain logical perimeter security on your home network(s).  It also provides many other helpful features for which people pay monthly fees - for example a VPN service. This is actually included in PFSense (a VPN Server) and you no longer have to pay someone to host your VPN connection. Keep in mind that all VPN traffic is decrypted at the endpoint. Thus, it’s important that you trust the company that you are paying this service for, as they have all of your logins and passwords. And if you’re using a “free” VPN service - well, it’s not really free. Look at it this way: If your providing all of your logins to banks, email, investments, etc., then you’re “paying” them in the form of your personal data. Whereas, when you use the PFSense VPN, it is your VPN. Therefore - most importantly - you are maintaining security, privacy, and control of your own data. 

The issue is not getting better, internet crimes are exponentially growing. Data breaches in 2024 have affected billions of people and companies of all shapes and sizes. (We welcome you to not take only our word but conduct your own online search; there’s no shortage of news on this topic.)

Back to PFSense. It is free open source software, and if desired you can purchase a firewall appliance from Netgate. The beauty of the PFSense software being free is - you don’t have to buy a firewall appliance. You can Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). This means in most instances, if you have a decent Desktop PC laying around, we can re-purpose it as your home firewall . It will then operate solely as a dedicate firewall (with minor hardware add-ons). In our experience, PFSense is the best option for maximum protection against perpetrators entering your home network, and financially. 

You will be astonished with what your Internet Service Provider is allowing to come right into your router, and what your router passes through right into your home network. Please keep in mind, router firewalls are really just routers. Frequently seen marketing statements of “built-in firewalls” provide a false sense of security at best. It’s more of a joke when they only block a small percentage of thousands of known vulnerabilities - or identified hack techniques being used as we speak - to attack and exploit anyone connected to the internet.

We all want to believe our personal data and systems that we think are protected are actually that - protected. The realm of cybersecurity can be overwhelming and make folks want to bury their heads in the sand. That’s why we formed Charleston Security Tech. We want to team with you to mitigate risk and help provide the digital protection we all deserve.

Understanding Firewalls

When your computer is connected to any network, whether wired, wifi, home, or corporate, it is susceptible to internet based attacks. The best countermeasure for malicious traffic constantly crawling the internet is a firewall. To amplify effectiveness the firewall should use an intrusion detection SYSTEM (IDS) and intrusion Prevention System (IPS).

The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) does an excellent job of explaining what firewalls do:

“Firewalls provide protection against outside cyber attackers by shielding your computer or network from malicious or unnecessary network traffic.
Firewalls can also prevent malicious software from accessing a computer or network via the internet. Firewalls can be configured to block data from certain locations (i.e., computer network addresses), applications, or ports while allowing relevant and necessary data through.”