Enhance Your Cyber-Hygiene

Our digital landscape is rapidly evolving, and cybercrimes have become an everyday occurrence, whether we are aware of them or not. The unsurprising rise of cybercrime continues to persist, growing annually since its start, mainly affecting small to mid-sized businesses (70% of ransomware cases FORBES).

Read that again! The large hacks are what make the news, but the majority of cybercrimes are against small and mid-sized businesses, the ones without large IT staff and large bank accounts.

Studies have shown that this upward trend is inducing a mental trauma among individuals and organizational leaders, similar to the psychological impact caused by traditional physical terrorism.

Breaches result in substantial financial losses and heightened anxiety. Managing this risk with an insurance policy is not as easy as other business risks. To get covered, most insurance companies are now requiring proof of proactive cybercrime prevention activities prior to consideration.

This article will cover what that means and walk you through some straightforward and affordable methods for protecting your business.?

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Understanding Cyber-Hygiene

The process of cyber-hygiene involves proactive measures to minimize vulnerability to cybercrime. If those words sound complicated and confusing, they are, don't worry; we will break it down into easily digestible terms.

We start by highlighting four of the twelve key steps:?

1. Multi-factor Authentication (MFA)

• Begin your cybersecurity journey with Multi-factor Authentication. This adds an extra layer of protection beyond passwords, which is crucial for remote access, email, and administrative controls. MFA solutions are user-friendly, making them accessible to businesses of all sizes.?
• You have likely experienced MFAs already in your everyday life. It may be in the form of a numerical code that is sent to you via text or email when you log into a secure site, such as your bank. It can even be in the form of an authentication app or pop-up on your mobile device.

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2. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)?

• Proactively identifying and mitigating threats is pivotal. Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools excel at this, detecting suspicious activities and responding effectively. EDR investment boosts cyber resilience and equips your business to counter emerging threats.?You have probably used simpler EDR technology in the past, such as Antivirus software. In this case, we are talking about a higher level of such technology. Think of the differences between over-the-counter medication and prescription medication. Both help us stay healthy but at different strengths and levels. For our business, we need the "higher" level of technology, EDR.

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3. Secured and Tested Backups

• If you have a safe and clean copy of your data, it minimizes the loss that a ransomware attack can threaten you with. A robust backup strategy is your safeguard against such data loss. Secure and encrypt your backups to prevent unauthorized access. Regularly test restoration processes to ensure data integrity. Industry best practice entails maintaining three copies of critical data, one stored offline.
• You don't need to hire an entire team to handle this. There are software and services that can perform such processes for you at minimal costs.

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4. Privilege Access Management (PAM)?

• Limiting access to sensitive data is vital. Privilege Access Management (PAM) ensures employees access only necessary resources. Implementing PAM minimizes unauthorized access risks and data breaches.?
• You can think of this as the digital version of door locks. Not everyone gets to enter your building. A smaller group gets to enter your company's space. and a select few can get into your private office, the supply, or the file room. In this way, you are already using a version of PAM. The same philosophy is now applied to your files and data and larger systems.

I am going to pause here for this installment. Cyber hygiene is not complicated, but for most business owners, it is a new language, not to mention a new concern to deal with. Many executives that I have worked with had previously applied the HAP (Hope and Pray)?method of dealing with this.

Prayer may work for many of life's challenges, but safeguarding your business takes a little more. Luckily, there are many easy-to-implement solutions that can help you protect your company, your employees, and your most significant asset without breaking the bank.

In order to ensure that your business is up-to-date and safe, you should consult a Business Solutions expert at a firm that specializes in comprehensive cyber-hygiene solutions tailored to your needs.

Stay tuned for subsequent articles revealing the next four crucial cyber-hygiene steps.?

David I. Bacall is a renowned security expert. He currently serves as the Chief Solutions Architect for Crown Business Solutions, a division of the Crown Group of Companies, where he consults with business owners on physical and cyber security solutions and offers telecom, call center, data, and security technology solutions. Crown's experts collaborate closely with you to decrease your vulnerability to cyber threats while watching your budget and needs.

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