There are some security issues that businesses are much more likely to experience than others, including the following. Let’s go over how you can protect your organization from these challenges and why it is so important that you take precautions now, before it’s too late.
Phishing and other methods of social engineering, or actively targeting users to get around security measures, are the most popular way of stealing data, credentials, or other information from unsuspecting users. There are plenty of communication methods for enacting these methods, and there are plenty of gullible people out there who will fall for them, but it’s not an easy task to protect your business from these attacks.
That said, there are ways to address it, and it all begins with simple awareness training. If you can make sure your team is aware of the various risk factors associated with phishing attacks, they will be less likely to bite—less likely, however, is not a guaranteed solution, so you’ll want to have other contingencies in place as well.
Ransomware is also a critical threat that you’ll want to address in your security infrastructure. If a criminal can lock your organization’s data infrastructure down and lock you out of it, then they establish a ludicrous and unfair power dynamic over you and your infrastructure. You either pay them for the safe return of your data, or you do your best to recover it in other ways and deal with the fallout of the attack (leaked data from the criminal, lost data, compliance issues, etc).
Since ransomware needs access to your resources in order to encrypt them, phishing is a primary method of spreading this threat. Understanding how dangerous phishing is can help you protect your systems against ransomware attacks, and so can having a prepared and tested data backup and recovery plan.
There are other types of malware out there that can also affect your business, but it would simply take too long to list what each and every one of these threats can do. Simply put, their impacts range from mildly irritating to incredibly dangerous, so you don’t want to risk anything by not being prepared for it. You’ll want every defense available to keep malware off your network, including firewalls, antivirus software, and an appropriate employee training program.
Sometimes even the most well-intentioned employees put your company at risk, so you should do what you can to minimize the opportunities for this to occur through the use of things like access controls and permissions. Generally speaking, your employees should only have access to resources they need to do their jobs, and no more.
Finally, password habits can be tough to break, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Too many passwords are simply ineffective, and they go from being something that is supposed to protect accounts to liabilities.
We recommend that your team always use complex passwords, backed up by the resources available to businesses through password management tools and multi-factor authentication.
First Column IT wants to help your business with its security measures. To learn more, call us today at (571) 470-5594.
