When comparing dedicated servers to shared server environments, security in a dedicated setting reigns superior – which is important to keep in mind as cybercriminal activity continues to gain momentum.

 But how exactly do dedicated servers help keep data safe? Before we get into the details here, let’s take a look into recent cybercrime statistics.

Cybercrime Statistics: Cybercrime Happens… Wait - How Often?

Like New York City (sadly in this case) cybercriminals never seem to sleep. Here are a few cyber crime statistics that show just how often cybersecurity attacks happen:

• A hacking attempt takes place every 39 seconds… if you do the math, that translates to over 2,000 attacks in a single day, according to a study performed by the University of Maryland.
• In 2017, ransomware attacks increased dramatically from one attack every two minutes in Q1 to one every 40 seconds by the end of Q3.
• Cybercrime costs small and mid-sized businesses over $2 million each year according to a recent cyber security statistics report.
• The U.S. is most affected by cybercriminals – 18.2% of all ransomware attacks in the world hit U.S.-based businesses.

And those are just a few stats (find more cybercrime statistics here). 

As technology transcends, unfortunately, cybercrime tactics become more sophisticated as well. In a perfect world, 100% data security would be guaranteed. Unfortunately, current data and forecasted trends have determined this is impossible – especially considering data security is a joint effort between users and service providers. On the bright side, dedicated servers do provide additional levels of security which prevent the number of successful attacks, and these deeper layers are not offered in shared environments.

How Are Dedicated Servers More Secure?

There are a few ways dedicated servers provide enhanced security over shared server farms. In a dedicated hosting environment, servers are kept in data centers that offer additional layers of security, both digitally and physically; in addition to going through multiple levels of physical security steps, data centers can also offer 24/7 intrusion monitoring – this means the security system has the ability to immediately catch a digital data breach attempt. Hosting providers also utilize additional tactics, such as encrypted logins and better server infrastructure and hardware (i.e. solid-state drives and firewalls), as well as performing regular IT security training and obtaining deeper certifications.

The most important component that makes dedicated servers more secure, however, is network segmentation which can be found in certain private cloud environments. This approach makes singular networks to appear as numerous, separate networks to potential hackers. Additionally, this type of data separation enables providers to shut down servers and isolate malware attacks, like ransomware, so the attack doesn’t spread and affect all customers within the environment. Although any type of breach is serious and impactful, this is a key distinction between dedicated and shared servers: in a shared environment, providers are unable to isolate attacks to a specific cluster before there’s an opportunity for the attack to spread.

To summarize, dedicated servers:

• Provide 24/7 intrusion monitoring.
• Offer encrypted logins.
• Include optimized server infrastructure and hardware such as solid-state drives and firewalls.
• Have regular IT security training for staff.
• Maintain network segmentation to reduce attacks and make it easier to isolate and respond to attacks.

Dedicated Server Hosting

At Summit Hosting, we take dedicated server data protection seriously. In addition to adopting a new state-of-the-art data security system, utilizing 256-bit encryption and offering 24/7 intrusion monitoring, we practice network segmentation in our private cloud approach. Thanks to this high level tech, our system kicks into gear if an outside entity is detected and quarantines the attack - thus isolating the threat so it doesn’t spread.

Interested in learning more about our security practices for our dedicated QuickBooks and Sage cloud hosting services? Contact us today! Our expert cloud hosting specialists are happy to help: 888-244-6559.