IT cybersecurity tips and tricks by Benjamin Dynkin and Atlas Cybersecurity right now? In the event that your company does experience a cyberattack, waste no time responding. Quarantine the equipment that might have been infected, and clean it out. Notify business partners and contacts who might have been indirectly affected by the attack. Figure out if any of your customers’ payment information has been compromised. If you don’t have IT staff, you should definitely hire a professional to analyze the problem and resecure your system. You also need to report the incident immediately to local authorities, the Internet Crime Complaint Center and possibly the FBI. You might want to just forge ahead and put the whole ordeal behind you, but reporting the crime will protect you and other businesses from further attacks. It’ll help law enforcement gain clues about the perpetrators and how they operate. They might not be brought to justice immediately — or ever — but it’s an important step. Discover even more info at Benjamin Dynkin Atlas Cybersecurity.
All employees should be trained on the use of passwords. Examples of such training would include: Making sure employees do not write passwords down (where they can be stolen). Ensuring employees do not share passwords over any online communication, unless the communication is encrypted. Having employees create strong passwords and use a company password manager. Making sure employees do not re-use passwords for multiple company applications, or between personal and company use.
Lock Devices Down. Most smartphones, laptops, and tablets come equipped with security settings that will enable you to lock the device using a PIN number or fingerprint ID. Do this on every available device. While traveling, change the PIN numbers you regularly use. In the event that any of your devices have been momentarily misplaced or forgotten, this will be the first line of defense against a security breach.
Use Anti-Virus Protection & Firewall. Anti-virus (AV) protection software has been the most prevalent solution to fight malicious attacks. AV software blocks malware and other malicious viruses from entering your device and compromising your data. Use anti-virus software from trusted vendors and only run one AV tool on your device. Using a firewall is also important when defending your data against malicious attacks. A firewall helps screen out hackers, viruses, and other malicious activity that occurs over the Internet and determines what traffic is allowed to enter your device. Windows and Mac OS X comes with their respective firewalls, aptly named Windows Firewall and Mac Firewall. Your router should also have a firewall built in to prevent attacks on your network.
Benjamin Dynkin and Atlas Cybersecurity on data breaches: What is a Data Breach? To define data breach: a data breach exposes confidential, sensitive, or protected information to an unauthorized person. The files in a data breach are viewed and/or shared without permission. Anyone can be at risk of a data breach — from individuals to high-level enterprises and governments. More importantly, anyone can put others at risk if they are not protected. In general, data breaches happen due to weaknesses in: Technology, User behavior. As our computers and mobile devices get more connective features, there are more places for data to slip through. New technologies are being created faster than we can protect them.