Ending the year, much like it began, many companies in the wake of the latest and debilitating attack on Sony are re-evaluating what they consider “secure.” In reviewing the vulnerabilities that opened the door for hackers to deeply imbed themselves in Sony’s IT infrastructure, companies are beginning to realize the need to proactively invest more heavily in their cyber security and IT defense systems.

Like Sony executives have recently discovered, it is painfully apparent that virus protection and firewalls do not always provide enough protection to prevent access to things like corporate emails, credit information, social security numbers, passwords, salaries, financial data, proprietary information, passwords and security certificates. Never mind movie scripts, celebrity identities and trailer clips.

We wish we could say that the Sony incident was a singular event. But, in a year where Target, and Home Depot saw close to 100 million debit and credit card numbers breached and where hackers roamed free in Neiman Marcus’ systems for over 8 months, there was a tremendous amount for shoppers to be concerned about. And retail wasn’t the only industry to fall victim to cyber-attacks as celebrities with Apple iCloud accounts and the White House computer network found out. Still, in addition to all of these others, the Sony attack looms particularly disturbing. Sure, credit information and social security numbers were compromised, but the length of exposure, its depth into Sony’s email system and internal files and the invasive nature of this attack must make us all stop and take note.

When we consider our businesses and the critical and confidential data that we work with, support and protect, we really need to understand our day to day responsibility in building a strategy that protects our core business and our clients.This strategy needs to consider how we protect networks as well asi ndividual assets. A first line of defense is no longer enough to prevent breaches. Embedded security is our new moniker and it should be yours.

As we launch into 2015, it is time to re-evaluate what we consider secure. To put policies and procedures in place that call for zero tolerance for non-compliance and that hold us all accountable for our future cyber safety. For our part, we here at 2000 Computer Solutions will answer that call with an aggressive roll out for more robust and stringent network security strategies. We invite you to join us.