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Article by: Cody McBride
Cyber threats are a common occurrence these days that could end up costing your business hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial losses. But often, it’s common mistakes that could be avoided from the start that could end up sparing your business the hardships associated with getting your business back on track after a cyber attack. My Creative Pixel shares some of the key things you should look out for.
It can be something as small as granting employees administrator rights to your computer network that could open up the door to cyber threats. Where there are more access rights, there is a greater chance of errors occurring especially when employees aren’t up to speed when it comes to basic IT security measures such as being able to detect a virus, for example; hence, why it’s vital to train employees properly when it comes to using the internet safely, how to use safely open and send emails, and how to spot popular scams doing the rounds.
The absence of a 2-factor authentication is where a lot of businesses fail to protect their passwords leaving the business open to cyber attacks that could be avoided by simply adding that additional level of protection. Moreover, the fewer people that have access to important passwords the better. But if you must leave passwords in the hands of trusted employees, make sure that they have the tools to safeguard company passwords by using data encryption software such as LastPass, for instance. Also, passwords should never be less than a minimum of twelve characters. And, of course, don’t forget about 2-factor authentication to make your passwords that much more secure.
A recovery plan is a must to minimize damage from occurring if your business does fall victim to a cyber attack. So, for a recovery plan to be effective it has to be designed in such a way that you can resume operations as quickly as possible after a cyber attack. As such it should include critical details like what data should be prioritized to be recovered first, what the timeline of the recovery process is, and who will be responsible for what in the recovery plan.
With the rise of remote work, VPNs are more vital than ever to keep your most vital information safe. The beauty of VPNs is that they mask your online activity as well as personal information such as your IP address, login credentials, and browsing history and activity so that it is not accessible to hackers.
If you don’t have a proper backup system this could end up jeopardizing sensitive information because of a loss of data in cyberspace. Having a backup system in place will enable you to retrieve data if it has been lost or stolen so that you can protect it once more by installing the right antivirus software etc.
Software is constantly evolving; hence, why it’s vital to regularly update your software as the prompts arise to avoid being overtaken by scam artists who are on top of ways of how to manipulate the system. Also, try to store your most confidential information somewhere that’s not on the main server so that it cannot be accessed in anyway, shape, or form.
At the end of the day, your cybersecurity plan should be protecting your most sensitive and confidential information. And if it’s not, then you should make working towards one a priority to protect your business at all costs.
