Unseen Weak Points in Your Cybersecurity
In this month’s IT Bulletin, we're uncovering three subtle but significant risks that could be undermining your cybersecurity strategy. From overlooked permissions in your apps to the consequences of mismanaged guest accounts and the dangers of unsecured backups, these threats often go unnoticed until it's too late. Here's what you need to know:
Overprivileged Applications: When Apps Have Too Much Power
Modern businesses rely on a variety of SaaS apps, plug-ins, and browser extensions. But when these tools are granted excessive permissions, they can become a serious liability.
Why It’s a Risk:
Some extensions or connected apps retain these permissions even after they're no longer used.
If compromised, they can be exploited to move laterally within your network or steal sensitive data.
What You Can Do:
Conduct regular audits of third-party integrations.
Remove unused apps and revoke unnecessary permissions.
Use OAuth dashboards or admin panels to manage access centrally.
Why It’s a Risk:
Guest accounts often retain access to shared content.
Old guest users are frequently left active.
These accounts may bypass normal security controls like MFA.
What You Can Do:
Regularly review guest users and their access rights.
Set expiry dates or conduct periodic clean-ups.
Apply consistent security policies (like MFA) to guest access where possible.
Why It’s a Risk:
If backups are stored on the same network, attackers can encrypt or delete them.
Backups that aren’t encrypted or access-controlled could be targeted in a breach.
Some organisations fail to test restores until it’s too late.
What You Can Do:
Store backups in a separate, secured environment (ideally offline or in immutable cloud storage).
Encrypt backup data and limit access to authorised personnel.
Test your backup and restore procedures regularly.
Need Advice or Help Reviewing Your Setup?
Our IT security specialists can help assess your risks, review current configurations, and advise on safe AI tool usage.
Contact us at info@symetri.co.uk to arrange a chat with our team.
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+44345 370 1500 · info@symetri.co.uk