In today’s digital age, cybersecurity is of utmost importance for businesses of all sizes. Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that by 2025, cybercrime will reach $10.5 trillion annually, up from just $3 trillion in 2025. With expected growth, workplace security is more important than your standard network security practices. Here are ten tips and best practices to strengthen your company’s cybersecurity posture –
Workplace Cybersecurity Best Practices
Implement Employee Training
Employee knowledge of cybersecurity is the first way to protect your business. After all, 95% of all cybersecurity issues can be traced to human error, according to the World Economic Forum. Employee training should cover –
- How to prevent and spot cyber threats such as phishing and ransomware attacks
- Regular tests to check for understanding
- Password security
- Importance of software updates
- How to protect and organize personal data
- How to use multi-factor authentication
- How to save and delete data
- What to do if an attack happens
Utilize Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a crucial tool in our cybersecurity arsenal. It ensures that only authorized individuals can access your systems and data by requiring multiple forms of verification. This is particularly important in the face of evolving online threats. MFA acts as a barrier against unauthorized access in case of password theft or social engineering attempts. It also ensures that only legitimate users can access your systems from various devices and locations.
Popular MFA apps include:
- Duo Mobile
- Google Authenticator
- Okta
- Authy
Complete Logouts
Completing your logouts is a simple yet effective way to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information. By ensuring that all sessions are terminated, even if the device falls into the wrong hands, the account remains secure. This practice also reduces the risk of unauthorized access in case of device loss or theft. By making it a habit to log out after each use, individuals can significantly reduce the potential security risks associated with unauthorized access to their accounts.
Consolidate your IT Vendors
Consolidating IT vendors can increase cybersecurity by streamlining security protocols and minimizing potential vulnerabilities. When a company works with multiple IT vendors, each vendor may have different security protocols and standards, making it challenging to maintain and monitor consistent security measures across the organization. By consolidating IT vendors, the company can implement standardized security practices and ensure that all systems and software adhere to the same high-security standards. This uniformity reduces the likelihood of oversight or gaps in security coverage, making it easier to detect and respond to potential threats across the entire network.
By consolidating vendors, you’re not just streamlining your operations, you’re also enhancing your cybersecurity. It allows for better coordination in handling security incidents and provides a more centralized approach to cybersecurity management, ultimately leading to a more robust and comprehensive security posture for the organization.
Managed Services vs. In-House IT
Develop an Incident Response Plan
An incident response plan in IT is a structured approach taken by an organization to address and manage the aftermath of a cybersecurity incident. It outlines the steps and procedures to be followed when a security breach or cyber-attack occurs, aiming to minimize damage and recovery time. The plan typically includes strategies for detecting, responding to, and recovering from security incidents and guidelines for communication, documentation, and continuous improvement.
An incident response plan increases a company’s cybersecurity strength in many ways. It helps the company prepare to handle potential cyber incidents, minimize impact, and reduce recovery time. Additionally, the plan helps identify and mitigate cybersecurity vulnerabilities and promotes a culture of vigilance and preparedness among employees.
Enforce Zero Trust Security Principles
The zero trust security principle is a proactive cybersecurity concept that assumes security breaches are inevitable and seeks to minimize the potential damage by consistently verifying trust in every access attempt. This is achieved by implementing strict access controls, continuous monitoring, and least privilege access policies across the network.
Update Passwords
The average person has dozens of passwords and realistically does not change all account passwords for the sake of ease. Nearly two-thirds of Americans use the same password across multiple accounts, and 43% have shared those passwords with others (Google, Harris Poll). Reusing passwords makes users vulnerable to data breaches.
According to McAfee, users should aim to update all passwords every three months and create strong passwords using uppercase and lowercase letters, as well as symbols. Make this a habit for your most sensitive accounts!
Most common passwords, according to Cybernews –
- 123456
- 123456789
- Qwerty
- Password
- 12345
- Qwerty123
- 1q2w3e
Stay up to Date with Latest Security Trends
Staying up to date with the latest security trends can strengthen your cybersecurity by allowing you to adapt to emerging threats and vulnerabilities proactively. Understanding current trends and new attack techniques can help you implement effective defense mechanisms and stay ahead of potential security risks. Furthermore, being aware of the latest security developments enables you to make
informed decisions when updating your security protocols and implementing new protective measures.
Organizations can stay up to date with the latest trends by subscribing to reputable cybersecurity blogs and newsletters, attending industry conferences and webinars, participating in professional forums and discussion groups, communicate with trusted vendors, and following cybersecurity social media platforms.
Restrict Access to Sensitive Information and Devices
Implementing strict access controls protects a company from cyber threats by ensuring that only authorized individuals can access critical data. This reduces the risk of unauthorized tampering, data breaches, and malicious activities. Additionally, only collecting and retaining data necessary for business purposes and securely disposing of data that is no longer needed will help protect your data. These processes look different for each business and industry.
Data Backup and Disaster Recovery
Regular Security Audits
Routine audits can help organizations identify vulnerabilities, gaps, and potential risks in their security infrastructure. This proactive approach allows businesses to take necessary measures to address issues before malicious actors exploit them. Additionally, security audits help ensure that security controls and policies are properly implemented and followed across the organization.
IT security audits are typically conducted by internal or external security professionals with expertise in assessing and evaluating an organization’s security infrastructure. The frequency of security audits can vary depending on factors such as industry regulations, organization size, complexity of IT structure, etc. However, it is recommended that they be completed bi-annually or annually.
By prioritizing cybersecurity and embracing these ten proactive measures, businesses can mitigate risks and establish a robust security foundation to protect their sensitive data and operations. Need assistance strengthening your cybersecurity posture? Talk with IP Pathways today
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