In 2020 it is more important than ever to educate and train your employees on best practices for Cyber Security. Every day the threat landscape gets increasingly more sophisticated. Below we will discuss 5 simple practices that all businesses should implement to stay safe from cybercriminals.
Security awareness training is a simple training service that can be implemented at any company. Make your employees your first line of defense. Human error can cause up to 95% of all security breaches. With simple security awareness courses, this number can be dramatically reduced. A few hot topics this year to educate staff on are phishing and ransomware attacks, social engineering, remote from home security, and mobile device security. You can find 3rd party companies to conduct these for you or you can create simple tests within your organization to measure which employees might be the most likely candidates to click on a link or open an attachment. Then train them on the proper measures to take next time they encounter a real threat.
Maintaining up to date security patches on all equipment. Unpatched systems leave vulnerabilities exposed which allow attackers to exploit your companies network and data. It is imperative that you always update your systems regularly.
Follow Best Practices for Password Security There’s no better time than the present for organizations to assess cyber-hygiene best practices for keeping data and devices secure from cyber-threats. Use a combination of numbers, letters, and special characters. Use different passwords for each account. If you are having difficulty keeping up with your password, you can use a password manager. There are many options out there, but a few examples are Password Boss, Last Pass, and Password Manager Pro. When available always implement multi-factor authentication.
Multi-factor authentication is a way to prove that you are the user. It requires you to type in a password or pin then it will send you a text message, an email, or call you with the code that you can then type in to verify your identity. That is one extra but very necessary step that provides an extra layer of security to protect an intruder trying to gain access to your personal information and financial assets.
Use extreme caution when clicking links and opening up email attachments. Be cautious of links within emails. Check that any links within the email are legitimate by opening a web browser and going directly to the website, as opposed to clicking on the link. Be cautious of attachments within emails. Attackers use attachments to spread malware. Be cautious of emails that ask you to make unsolicited financial transactions.
If you apply these 5 practices consistently you will help your business stay secure and reduce the number of cyber-attacks. We would be happy to sit down with you and discuss your current strategies and help strengthen your IT security. Prosora Technologies is a Managed IT Services Company and IT security is a top priority for us and our clients. We have several ways we can partner with your company. Prosora Technologies be a full-time IT resource and we also partner with many IT departments providing Co-Managed IT. You can review more options here: www.prosora.com If you are looking to improve your IT operations and take IT security to the next level — give us a call: 972–332–5300.