What we cover
How many employees have access to your company's sensitive information? You can minimise the risk of data being shared, stolen or used by restricting access to only those who need it.
We all live busy lives, so it's likely that you or your employees may work remotely every now and then. Do you have a system in place to ensure security is maintained while accessing work documents from home or on the go?
Do you or your employees use USB drives, CDs and DVDs to save and share company information? Reduce the risk of your systems being infected with malware or viruses by introducing policies around the use of these external drives so your important information stays safe.
Educate your employees about how to spot a phishing email, and carefully check ad hoc and suspicious emails as the sender may be a fraudster claiming to be a director, manager or vendor.
Do you know how to spot a safe or dodgy website? Look for 'https://' and a padlock symbol on your browser, if the site doesn't have these, then tread carefully as it may be a malicious site. And always download new software from trusted websites and review alerts before downloading.
Creating longer passwords that contain letters, numbers and characters are much safer and harder to hack. Passphrase's are even better! To be truely secure, passwords or passphrase should contain a minimum of 25 alpha-numeric characters.
Make sure that you have the latest anti-virus software installed to prevent online attacks and catch out the latest malware or threats. Make sure you purchase and download an anti-virus from a trusted branded and website too.
Have you included cyber threats in your company's business continuity plan? It's important to make sure you have a plan in place in the event that you are affected by a cyber attack along with other kinds of potential major disruptions.
We run fire drill tests, so why not run scenario based drills to test the impact and response times to various different cyber attacks. This will allow you to understand where your company's weaknesses are and can make a plan to improve.
It's important to keep your staff updated on the latest threats and responses you have in place to prevent breaches. Staff are your main exposure but also your best defence. The better informed they are, the better protected you and your business are.
Backing up your data can save you a lot of hassle, stress and money in the event you're targeted by a cyber attack. Automate your back ups so they happen daily or weekly and use an external hard drive, not somewhere online, is the safest.