Cyber Security 101

Here at Optindigo.com we take data security seriously.  We can help you through the GDPR process and with every aspect of keeping your data secure. Often the key to avoiding problems is pretty simple and below are our top ten tips to keep your organisation's data safe:

1. The first thing is the most obvious - don't store stuff you don't need! Only collect the information you need and then delete it as soon as possible. Whether this is the phone number of a customer, photos, or any other information, as soon as you no longer need it you should delete it.  Delete is promptly, securely, and permanently.

2. Don’t lose your phone, tablet, laptop, or other fancy dandy device! Even if you delete data regularly from your phone there is a good chance that there will be numbers, photos, and other info on there that you don't want lose. Keep your phone, tablet and laptop safe.  Don’t leave them on the bus, a car seat, or lying around in the office. You need to keep your IT safe.

3. Passwords are an obvious point but are often overlooked. A good password is like a toothbrush, changed every month or so and not shared with anyone else. Don’t get lazy - use a complex password with a mix of lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Don’t use the same password across multiple devices - and for goodness sake don’t use the word ‘password’.

4. So, let's imagine the nightmare scenario - you lose your phone! You need to make sure that it's as difficult as possible to steal your data. Make sure your lockscreen timeout is set to 30 seconds, password protect your device with a 6 digit code as a minimum and don’t store unnecessary data locally.  There are some pretty clever hackers out there and so you should make it hard for them to extract your data.

5. Use software to remotely manage your device content - ‘Find my iPhone’ can remotely change a password, track and wipe any of your Apple devices. Android device manager does the same and other options such as Lookout, Avast, and Prey offer all in one mobile security solutions to make things difficult for a device thief.

6. Viruses are a huge problem. Trojans, malware and ransomware, are all evil and can bring a business to its knees. Often extorting money for the release of data, spying on employees or outright destroying data. Even the most careful users can get caught out. Don’t click, open or download files you don't recognise from untrusted sources or plug in random USB sticks you might have found lying around. Getting a virus can be a disaster!  Make sure you have a good antivirus solution that is kept up to date on all your devices.

7. Firewalls are super important in order to protect your device and data from threats coming over the internet.  Make sure your firewall is turned on and setup correctly.  This might just save you a whole lot of trouble in the future.

8. OK - let's move away from losing your devices and look at other precautions. If you store sensitive information such as personal or financial info, perhaps photos you don’t want to share, you should really think about encryption.  There are many options available and this is not as complicated as you might think... Your mac and pc come with pre-loaded free options. 

9. If you are still worried, now is the time to reach out for professional help - intrusion prevention and detection systems are useful to help you prevent a breach and identify if an attacker is successful. This is pretty serious stuff and you might need specialist help to get this set-up. 

10.  Having a good backup solution will help you get back up on your feet if the worst comes to the worst. You should always secure your backups in the same way as the original data by encrypting where possible and keep the backup location off-site.

Don’t forget you also need to complete your GDPR process - this also requires expert help but might not be as bad as you fear - just call us on 01772 217772 and we can help you with both the GDPR process any data security concerns you may have. We're here to get you through this process as quickly as possible. Call us anytime if you need help.

Good luck

Adam