Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a great opportunity to remind yourself and your employees about the importance of cybersecurity in business. With cyber-attacks on the rise and a data breach seemingly in the news every day, it’s more important than ever to stay cyber aware.
However, in the hectic business world, it’s easy to forget about the importance of cybersecurity. So, this October, help your employees stay safe online and protect your business’ data by going back to basics.
By basics, we mean good cyber hygiene. These are simple actions that make all the world of difference. After all, 82% of breaches come down to human error. If your employees stay alert and practice good cyber hygiene, you’re much less likely to suffer a data breach. So, without further adieu, here’s our list!
Our Cyber Hygiene Checklist
Ensure all your software is up to date: We all know how tempting it is to click the remind me later when a pop-up appears, asking us to update our software or device. While these updates cause a minor disruption to your workflow, they do all the world of good. You see, these updates – also known as patches – usually contain critical security updates that keep your organization safe from hackers. If you don’t patch, a criminal may be able to exploit your device and attack your company. So, encourage your employees to patch regularly and quickly. Preferably, as soon as the request appears!
Implement a strong password policy: Weak and easy-to-guess passwords are one of the major ways by which hackers break into organizations. You can combat this risk by implementing a strong and complex password policy. Passwords should be unique for every account and difficult to guess. No use of QWERTY or 1234 please! Better yet, we advise complementing your password policy with the use of multi-factor authentication for more robust protection.
Help your employees spot phishing scams: Phishing scams occur when hackers masquerade as legitimate people or entities in order to persuade their victims into sharing sensitive information or clicking on a malicious links. These attacks are rising year on year. While anti-malware solutions go some way to stop phishing, there’s still a strong likelihood one of these emails will land in your inbox at some point or another. This is where good employee training becomes vital. As the saying goes, knowledge is power.
Establish strong network defenses: While education is a huge part of security, basic cyber hygiene also extends to the tools you use. Inevitably, your network will suffer an attack at some point. The difference between success and a thwarted attempt is often the tools you use. So, make sure to deploy the right blend of network security tools that can identity, detect and mitigate potential threats. If you’re not sure where to start, check out our network security services. Our team has the know-how to enhance your network security.
Put in place the principle of least privilege: The principle of least privilege centers around the idea that employees should only have access to the resources they need to do their job and nothing more. For example, a graduate employee in the marketing department shouldn’t have the same access permissions as an IT administrator. Putting in place this principle is a surefire way to reduce your security risks. Make sure to regularly review and update your permissions policies in line with people moves and job changes.
Keep an eye on the cloud: As more data moves to cloud applications like Microsoft 365 and Google Drive, organizations must contend with new types of security threats. One of the most prevalent in recent times is the risk of cloud misconfigurations, where users accidentally expose private data to the internet by not checking access permissions in the cloud. It’s crucial to get a handle on this threat before it results in a data leak. The best way to do this is through educating your users and setting up cloud monitoring to discover and remediate any misconfigurations.
Embrace the Learnings of Cyber Security Month!
This checklist of cyber hygiene tips isn’t the be all and end all of security, but it’s certainly a good place to start. While cyber-attacks may seem complex and sophisticated, they are often quite simple in nature, and getting the basics right is a fantastic way to protect you and your employees from about 80% of attacks out there.
Of course, for organizations without a dedicated internal IT team, looking after security can seem like an overwhelming task. That’s where we come in. Our managed cybersecurity services keep you safe 24/7.
We’ll Protect Your Business From Complex Security Threats
Contact us to get started with Managed Cybersecurity at your office and sleep easier knowing your business is protected.
Call 208-468-4323 today.