Ransomware is at an incredible rise this year and with recent attacks, it’s important to educate yourself in basic security practices to avoid becoming a victim. According to a recent SolarWinds Study, employees are the largest threat to business with regards to cyber security (53%). Here are some simple tips to keep yourself cyber secure.
Create Strong Passwords
The days are long gone where you could have your pets name as a password. Unfortunately, with social media and what is available to you online, people are starting to easily figure out what your password may be based on what you tweet or post about. Passwords nowadays need to be at least 12 characters long, contain numbers, symbols, and capital letters. The most common password is 123456 and can be cracked in 1 second.
Practice Password Hygiene
Do not share your password with literally anyone, instead of giving a technician your password, rather log on your PC/email yourself. You should also change your password every 3 months and if possible, avoid using the same security questions on different sites. Did you know that more than 1 billion passwords are already stored on a Russian database?
Keep your Email Safe
Makes sure your anti-virus comes with spam-filters and activate them. Your anti-virus should also be scanning each email that comes in. You also need to be weary with attachments, disable automatic previewing so you can always make sure that you are opening the correct thing. NEVER respond to requests for personal or company account information. 91% of advanced cyber-attacks start with a click on an email.
Don’t Share Confidential Information
Always double-check who you are sending to before pressing send. Sending information to the wrong person can unintentionally leak private company data. You can disable autofill in Outlook by going to File – Options – Mail – Send Messages. This way, you will always send the intended recipient. 78% of people have admitted to accidentally sending a mail to the wrong person.
Keep Security Top of Mind
Create a plan for staff to follow if there is a potential security risk such as the recent attacks. Everyone needs to share potential mistakes openly with the company so the potentially infected PC can be identified and dealt with. Organisations without security awareness programs report security breaches cost 4x higher than their peers.
Keep All Devices Secure
Make sure every device in the company is encrypted and if you have a BYOD policy, make sure that all employees devices are safe before allowing them to connect to the network. Makes sure all devices are set to auto-update as they latest updates come with the latest security patches. 47% of businesses feel that data on employee computers is the most at risk.
Review who has Access
You must regularly review who has access to sensitive data. If roles change or people leave, make sure only those employees that “need to know” have access. Always review 3rd party access and security as well. Admin Access abuse is cited as the most frequent form of insider misuse.
This article was inspired by our friends at Savetnet.
