Cybersecurity Awareness Month
It’s that time of year again.?And no, we are not talking about ghouls and goblins and frightening creatures pounding on your physical door.?But they may be knocking at your cyber door…
?October is not just the month the world changes to fall and the Trick-or-Treater’s begging for candy but it is also the annual cybersecurity awareness month where organizations work together to build awareness of cybersecurity needs and help all businesses adopt best-in-class cybersecurity standards and stop these vicious predators from preying on our businesses.??One thing we need to ask ourselves is “Is my business vulnerable to hackers?”
This year, the theme is to “see yourself in cyber” meaning for you to look at the role you personally play in protecting your business and other cyber assets.?The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)?wants to place the emphasis on how we, as individuals, can make smart decisions in regard to cybersecurity whether at work, school, or at home.?Here are 4 ways you can help yourself to stay safe online:
●?????Enabling multi-factor authentication, or MFA.?MFA is the process of requiring multiple methods of verifying your identity when logging into an online profile.?These can include such things as texting a password to your phone or emailing it to a pre-determined email address as well as requiring a user name and password to log in.?
●?????Using strong passwords and a password manager. ?We completely understand how frustrating it is to create (and remember) a password that is considered a strong and secure password.?And not only that but to have a different one for every online profile you have.?You already have a lot on your plate…remembering a string of 8 or more random letters, numbers, and characters are beyond you.?But this is why having a password manager can be beneficial.?In both PC and iOS environments, there are built-in password managers that you can access and we would highly recommend you make use of these.?Some browsers also include a built-in password manager that can save your information to your system through your main browser.?
●?????Updating software.?Honestly, we can not stress this enough.?Updating software is the single most effective way to keep your data safe.?Cyber threats change by the day, sometimes by the minute, and software updates are built to counteract these threats.?Without maintaining your software updates, you are leaving a door wide open to hackers to exploit the known weakness in your systems.?Just don’t do it.?However you have to remind yourselves to make sure you are always up to date, such as creating a calendar meeting to remind you every week to look for new updates or by using the built-in software update features of every device and acting on the notice immediately is crucial to playing your part in keeping your data safe.
●?????Recognizing and reporting phishing.?This is another key way to staying safe.?Knowing how hackers are trying to gain access to your information and recognizing indicators of a phishing scheme can keep you from falling victim in the first place.
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It’s easy to stay safe online
No, really.?It is.?By actively instilling the above behaviors into your day and taking a “risk-based” approach, you can keep your data protected.?As staysafeonline.org states, “Everyone has a right to a safe internet, so let’s remember to #BeCyberSmart.
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How is your cyber intelligence?
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Learn more about Cybersecurity Awareness Month by visiting these sites:
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Cybersecurity Checklist for 2022
According to Citrix research, 90% of business leaders believe they are still falling short when addressing their cyber risk, and they are not too far off the mark.?Data from the first 6 months of 2021 revealed that the total amount of ransomware-related payments exceeded all of the payments made in the entire year of 2020.?Here are 3 checklist items that Citrix recommends you have in place moving forward:
?□ Make cybersecurity a part of your organizational DNA.?You need to live, breathe and eat cybersecurity.?Everyone should recognize the need for strong passwords and education on appropriate cyber hygiene should be frequent conversations between IT and other departments.
?□ Protection for everyone, everywhere.?With the adoption of hybrid work becoming the “new normal” of how we work, making sure that your employees are maintaining safe cyber habits both in the office and out will be critical.?Since traditional VPN technologies can create lag and result in offsite workers choosing to turn them off, finding alternative methods should be a top item on your cyber task list.
?□ Keep it simple.?Cybersecurity is not an easy threat to counter.?Talent is hard to come by.??Instead of using a patchwork of different vendors and employees, consider consolidating all of your cybersecurity efforts through one industry expert and trusted advisor.
Letter from the President/CEO
A lot of attention is placed on a businesses cybersecurity as a whole.?What process do you have in place to both prevent and react to an event??What tools do you use, who do you contact, what is the protocol??
?But the single biggest point of failure in any cybersecurity strategy is the individual people accessing your network and data points.?That is why this years CyberSecurity Awareness Month is focusing on the you in cybersecurity - and how we all as a individuals play a role in keeping not only our personal data safe but that of our business or employer.?What grade would you receive when evaluating your own cyber hygiene??
Did you know we offer free cybersecurity audits of your network??Give me a call today and we can get yours scheduled to make sure your network is the most secure it can possibly be.
John Hansman
CEO