Investing time and effort in deploying the best Cyber Security measures is the best investment any company could pitch in. It may seem secondary, but it is of great importance that each company must look into it before they lose the customer’s trust or reputation. So here are the top 10 Cyber Security best practices to protect your businesses.
Data Protection
Protecting data is the paramount duty that any organization or its employees can take care of. Just the way you are cautious of sharing your personal information like credit card credentials, Social security number, and any other details that others outside your family mustn’t know. In the same way, you must treat your organizational data too. Please do not share any data of the company that includes your credentials, company passwords, pictures taken inside the office, and data of any sort that may reveal information to outsiders which they aren’t authorized to see or observe. Sharing this data may put you in trouble.
And also, you mustn’t hold in possession any data outside of your organization or company because that could put you and the company you are working for in trouble.
The hackers or attackers are becoming smarter with each day. They are creating accounts, email addresses that may look legitimate and will send authenticated documents or information that may entice you to share data with that person or entity. Please be aware, and don’t get trapped in such scenarios. Check out IT Security Online Courses to become a master of the Cybersecurity domain.
Avoid pop-ups, unknown emails, and links.
While at work or home, you must be alert while surfing the internet. Attackers create phishing traps through pop-ups, unknown emails, and links are created to entice the employees or the unaware user.
If you click on these pop-ups, hackers could enter inside your system and attempt hacking or infiltrating your system. So the thumb rule is that whenever you see a pop-up message, or suspicious emails, spam, or any other form of communication, never share any personal pieces of information with that thread. These kinds of activities lead to identity theft, and it leads to ransomware attacks.
Using stronger password protection and authentication
Creating and maintaining stronger passwords will not only help your organization or company stay safe and secure, but it also fends off possible cyber-attack. Because figuring out simple passwords is easier than figuring out complex ones.
A strong password needs at least ten characters that include numbers, symbols, capital, and lowercase letters. Keep a password manager that will be handy to maintain long and unique passwords. Organizations could also deploy a second layer of passwords to access sensitive information.
Connecting to secure Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is now everywhere. But is Wi-Fi everywhere safe to use? No. Office Wi-Fi must be safe, password-protected and secure enough to tackle hackers. These Wi-Fis must be hidden and encrypted besides being secure. If you are Working From Home, then the best suggestion is to use a VPN connection. VPN’s are the best when it comes to protecting the data. Avoid using Public Wi-Fi, because it’s insecure and may put your data at risk of being intercepted. Organizations must deploy VPN services to keep their data encrypted and secured.
Enabling Firewall protection at work as well as home
Firewalls are one of the most underrated methods of keeping your data protected. They act as the first layer of protection against possible cyber-attacks. Firewalls prevent unauthorized penetration attempts to your websites, email services, or other sensitive information.
So, make sure that you have installed a firewall for your work as well at home.
Invest in security systems
It might sound a little far-fetched, but it is one of the most effective ways of preventing cyber-attacks or security breaches. It may be difficult for smaller companies or teams, but if the organization can set up security systems and teams.
Deploying these teams could help you with updates of strong anti-virus, malware detection, dedicated hard drives for data back-ups, and for running persistent system checks at regular intervals or in real-time. It is a part of the investment that every organization must pitch in, or else they may have to pay a heavy price for Cyber Security threats and data breaches that may tarnish their reputation in front of their customers or consumers.
Install security software updates and back up your files
You must install and use security software that is updated, and this means your browsers, OS, all software that you are using, everything must be of the latest protection to avoid any new form of malware attacks.
Data backup is the most important step that no company should overlook. Because even though you amp your security measures, there are still chances that your data might take a hit, but if you are regularly backing up data, your data is safe and sound.
Have a good rapport with your IT department
The IT department must be in close connection with every department of your organization. Make sure you have good communication and rapport with the IT teams, don’t let any security concerns go unnoticed, make sure you see through all alerts and inform the IT team regarding the problem and ask them to fix it right away before it becomes even bigger.
Employ third-party controls
Third-parties may become a loophole for your tight-knit security measures. Because these third-party vendors may have access to your organization’s data and systems. Make sure to put up restrictive controls over them and provide access to only what’s necessary. Remove the access as soon they complete their work, or they no longer need it.
Give due diligence to education and training on security.
Awareness is the key to secure your systems and data. Always make sure employees are aware of the latest malware, and the techniques deployed by hackers to gain unauthorized access, and many other things that may go unnoticed. So employee training on these matters is of utmost importance to a company of any scale.