8 things you can do to protect yourself from cybersecurity threats

Since none of us are immune to cybersecurity threats now is a good time to take a look at your own online security strategy to see that it is up to date and effective.

1. Protect yourself from social engineering and phishing attacks. Use your judgement and do not open suspicious emails, even if you know the sender.
2. Set up an intrusion-prevention system and security software on all computers. We recommend a combination of antivirus software, malware, firewalls and spam filters.
3. If travelling, take extra precautions to protect devices you take on the road. This includes backing up all files, removing sensitive documents and information from devices, ensuring passwords are in use and that antivirus software is updated.
4. Ensure you keep your operating systems up to date to minimise threats and backup regularly using multiple versions to increase the chance of restoring clean data in the event of an attack.
5. Put a password policy in place for all devices used to access company data and manage these passwords so that reuse is not allowed and passwords are regularly changed.
6. Ensure that the guest Wi-Fi and corporate Wi-Fi are on separate systems so that any threat entering the public system will not cross over to the business system. We also recommend securing, encrypting and hiding the visibility of your corporate Wi-Fi network.
7. Review your permissions policy, data retention policy and encryption policy to limit access to your company data.
8. Finally, ensure you have a Disaster Recovery Plan in place should something go wrong.

As an IT Service Provider, Spector is often asked to pick up the pieces after a cybersecurity attack. At this point, it can be a costly exercise to recover from. Our advice is prevention is the best cure and so we offer our clients integrated Business Protection solutions to minimise the risks of such attacks. We are happy to talk with companies and assist them in reviewing their security practices so that their businesses are protected. If you have any concerns in regard to the above points why not give us a call on 01-6644190.