Cleaning up your company’s cyber hygiene
These three steps can help make your business a tougher target for hackers.
You brush your teeth twice a day, wash your hands after using the restroom and shower daily; but when is the last time you focused on your cyber hygiene?
Cyberattacks are costly and inconvenient, with the average cost of a data breach reaching $4.24 million in 2021, according to IBM. Rather than scrambling to recover from a breach in your business, there are practices you can put into effect to prevent them from happening in the first place, and the best place to start is by brushing up on your cyber hygiene.
Cyber hygiene refers to the practices businesses and organizations perform regularly in order to maintain the security of their users and lower their vulnerability to cyberattacks.
Password manager NordPass recently released a list of the three main areas companies should examine to improve their cyber hygiene.
1. Get serious about password management
According to NordPass, 20% of professional passwords are either the company’s name or a variation of it, and “password” is still the most common password across all industries.
“The reason isn’t carelessness and is probably not lack of awareness either, meaning having stricter protocols around password creation is not likely to help. Simple passwords can be remembered quickly and save time. As it is, users already spend seven to twelve hours a year remembering and resetting their passwords – a number they are not likely to want to increase, especially during work hours,” Chad Hammond, a security expert at NordPass, said in a release.
Utilizing password managers can help companies set stricter, more secure parameters for their passwords while still keeping the log-in process convenient for employees. Multi-factor identification should also be implemented; which authenticates the identity of employees beyond their passwords in order for them to access company software and systems.
2. Utilize VPN services
VPNs, or virtual private networks, should be an integral part of any business network — especially if you have remote employees. VPNs allow users to connect to a business’ network through a private portal, rather than just using the internet at-large.
3. Make sure your cloud is secure
With much of our data now stored in the cloud, businesses must take great care to ensure that information is only available to authorized users and out of the reach of those who could misuse it to carry out cyberattacks. This can be done by using a cloud service that encrypts your data, using strong passwords and implementing two-factor identification.
Hammond added in the release, “Overall, it’s important to understand that cyber insurers can act as partners in your cybersecurity journey and help you understand where your most significant vulnerabilities are and how to reduce or eliminate them. What is more, implementing cybersecurity tools can help you to solve the most common human errors, reducing the risk of a possible cyber incident.”