5 Tips to Remember for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Cybersecurity is a significant concern for businesses and organizations across all industries. Companies that are hacked face incredible expenses, to the cost of over $11.7 million annually per company affected. The losses in time, money, and reputation are enough to sink many companies for good.
In honor of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month this October, here are 5 key things to remember to keep your company safe from cyberattacks.
What Can Your Company Do to Stay Safe?
Plan for Attacks
Have a contingency plan for cyberattacks. Everyone should know their responsibility during a crisis, who to contact, and internal communication protocols to save you from confusion and mistakes. You should clearly outline all procedures for identifying, classifying, and responding to incidents.
You should create a disaster recovery plan to use in case of a successful breach. This should outline how to proceed how you intend to restore any lost information. A data backup is an important part of this plant to minimize data loss and restore services after an attack.
Regularly Train Your Employees
The majority of cyberattacks are the result of human error. As the saying goes, “you are as strong as your weakest link.” Cybercriminals try to target individuals hoping that they’re easier to crack than a digital security system. Periodic training sessions are essential to educate staff on their role in the company’s cybersecurity.
Make sure every member of the company knows and follows the business contingency plan. Cybersecurity training is in constant flux, and so the emergence of new security features, software, and threats will necessitate updating your employees frequently.
Use A VPN And Encrypt All Data
VPNs encrypt the connection between devices and the internet, allowing you to transfer data traffic through an encrypted private system to an external server. Adopting a VPN is essential for companies to gain a secure private network that provides anonymity.
It is vital to use end-to-end encryption whenever sharing or sending sensitive data. Encryption renders all your data inaccessible by unauthorized third parties. Remember to delete sensitive information saved elsewhere once it has been transferred safely.
Beware of Social Engineering
Cyber attackers resort to social engineering as a way of exploiting human error. A social engineering cyber attack in Riviera Beach, Florida, forced the city government to pay out nearly $600,00 after an employee opened an infected email.
Your employees could be targeted and tricked into giving away sensitive information and accidentally grant access to critical resources. Educate all staff on how to spot and avoid emails from questionable sources. Make sure to regularly update your anti-malware software and use multifactor authentication on all company and email accounts.
Backup Your Data
Maintaining a secure data backup and updating it regularly is essential. You want to make sure all of your valuable information is recoverable in the aftermath of a data breach.
Consider transferring your systems to a Cloud IT solution. This gives your business a cloud data backup and access to the latest in security advancements. Experts also recommend regular recovery tests of your backup data to ensure that data is redeemable if a real cyberattack occurs.
If you want to implement any of the above steps, call TheCompuLab today to set up a consultation. We would love to help give your business the cybersecurity it needs to succeed.
