How to protect your organisation against cybercrime in 2018
With ever-increasing reports of cybercrime filtering into the news last year, 2018 is the perfect time to seriously consider your organisation’s cybersecurity. Making sure you have a robust and effective plan to combat this very dangerous digital criminal enterprise is imperative in today’s business world. If you feel you have a plan in place that is comprehensive enough, then make sure all your staff are actually following it. Many breaches of cybersecurity are still down to human error and employees not doing what they should be.
If you are setting up a plan to protect yourself from cybercrime in the new year or are wanting tips on upgrading your current one, here are a few ideas to help.
Make sure your data is fully encrypted
A key consideration when thinking about keeping your business safe from cybercrime is any data you hold on file. This is especially true with the new GDPR laws that will come into effect in 2018. You should always make sure any data is encrypted, particularly any sensitive or personal data that your business may hold on customers. Doing so will help to secure it from malicious attacks as the encryption process will make it unreadable for hackers.
Secure your network
By far the best solution to protecting your whole network from hackers is to not use a wireless one. Using a wired network will mean that hackers can not use Wi-Fi security lapses to remotely break into your computer systems. However, in the modern business world, this is not always practical as Wi-Fi is so prevalent.
Luckily, you can take steps to secure your Wi-Fi network too. Make sure you are using the most up to date encryption standard as this will make it much harder for cyber criminals to access your systems. In addition, turn off the SSID broadcasting function on your wireless router if you don’t need it. This will hide your network from passers-by who could otherwise use it to breach your cybersecurity.
Install anti-malware protection
One of the most effective ways hackers use to get into a business’s network is with malware or virus-laden software. The usual trick is to send it via an email to employees who may open it out of curiosity to see what it is. Unfortunately, this then infects your whole network and gives the criminals access to all your data! By making sure all your organisation’s computers have the very latest virus protection software on, you can help to avoid this.
Educate your staff
As noted above, the biggest threat to your cybersecurity can be your staff! Not on purpose of course, but through ignorance, they can leave your business wide open to attack. Take the time to fully inform them of your cyber security plan and the procedures they must always follow when using their workstations.
Let Cara Technology help your business today
The above points are just some of the things to think about when protecting your business from a cyber attack. If you don’t have the staff or resources in place to do this effectively, why not outsource this key role to Cara Technology? Operating in the Cheshire and Manchester areas of the UK, call us today and see how outsourcing your IT security can keep you safe as well as save your business money.
