5 Ways To Beef Up Your Cybersecurity Measures
We all have identity and financial data embedded into online accounts and profiles. Are you concerned a hacker could profile you and target your business?
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Is Your Personal, Professional & Business Data Tangled?
We all have identity and financial data embedded into online accounts and profiles. Are you concerned a hacker could profile you and target your business?
With technology now a ubiquitous aspect of our personal, professional, and business lives, we find ourselves increasingly exposed. A talented hacker sitting in a local coffee shop or trolling the internet hallway around the world can drill down on our online presence or penetrate our cybersecurity defenses and leverage critical data.
If the idea that your personal and professional data is at risk sounds like hyperbole, consider the ways your financial and identity information is used online. It is now common to have an open Amazon account, enjoy the benefits of subscribing to Echo Dot, leave Wi-Fi open, and house complete financial records in a home or business network. Now consider that you may shop online and use personal information such as full name, address, and other critical data.
To think we are not an open book to an experienced hacker is folly. That is why it is essential to beef up your business and personal cybersecurity measures promptly.
1: Implement A Password Update Policy
It is not unusual for everyday people and businesses to allow passwords to linger too long. After getting to the office, the days can seem like an endless routine of putting out fires, completing tasks, and taking meetings. Updating passwords tend to get put on the back burner due to the seeming lack of urgency.
The primary risk of this procrastination is that once a hacker penetrates a single account or network, many have the same or similar passwords. A savvy cybercriminal may take the time to gain access to all of your personal and business finances before draining you or leveraging valuable data. That is why it is vital to diversify your personal and business passwords and change them every month. It may be worth your while to consider password managers such as OneLogin, Dashlane, or LastPass, among others.
2: Utilize Password Vaults
The value of using a password vault is that it delivers secure randomization. Only admins securely access the privileged data with passwords randomly changing with each login. This can be particularly useful for Wi-Fi routers, Echo devices, and others that generally remain static. It is essential to keep in mind that there are more personal and professional details linked to such items than many people realize.
3: Take A Mental Inventory Of Schemes
Stop and consider how often you are targeted by phishing and so-called spear-phishing email schemes every week. Although many of us have become deaf to low-level efforts to get us to click on a link or respond to a blatant scam, digital confidence schemes are becoming more sophisticated all the time.
Determined cybercriminals are now conducting due diligence on professionals by skimming information from LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other online resources. By reviewing your identity data, they can send targeted email schemes that appear legitimate. Some may go after your employees by posing as a supervisor, decision-maker, or CEO.
These schemes can be deterred by requiring accurate information as a standard practice. Many organizations now employ automated Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) before an account can be accessed.
4: Mitigate BYOD Risk
An increasing number of businesses have agreed to Bring Your Own Device policies as a way to minimize cost and enhance real-time communication. While there may be quantifiable benefits associated with such practices, this policy can unnecessarily expose an operation.
For those outfits yet to effectively manage the cybersecurity measures needed for endpoint devices, integrating apps such as Dropbox, Workday, and Slack, among others, may be viable solutions. As a decision-maker, it may be worth thinking about successful BYOD policies through the cybersecurity lens. If they can promptly shut out a cyber-intruder, that is value.
5: Determine Where Your Cybersecurity Stands
In order to take proactive measures to ensure top-tier cybersecurity, conducting a thorough review of professional and personal accounts and defenses remains necessary. The links that tie our identity to professional and business data are inextricably bound. It may be in your best interest, and that of your company, to have third-party consultant access, analyze, and provide a report of vulnerable areas and how to close cybersecurity gaps.