2014 has been the year of the Internet of Things but also the year of several major global online security threats that have affected millions of people and tens of thousands of businesses.
We’ve all heard about Cryptolocker, Heartbleed and now last week, BASH which have all received global media coverage. We’ve seen major retailers who have had customer details stolen and we’ve seen Ebay and other global on-line retailers in the news for the wrong reasons.
Most businesses blame cyber threats on outsiders but sometimes the threat actually originates from within when employees’ lack of awareness and/or negligence open the door.
So what can you do as a business person to help protect your business and help make your employees a bit more cyber smart?
Below I’ve listed 10 tips that should help:
- Create and communicate clear-cut IT security and acceptable usage policies
- Test employees security knowledge
- Require complex passwords that must be changed regularly
- Teach employees about Phishing scams
- Make sure you’ve got good backups in place
- Use email SPAM and internet web filters
- Keep your systems patched with the latest security updates
- Protect your mobile devices
- Keep your staff up to date with latest cyber threat news
- Select a trusted IT partner
None of the tips above individually can effectively prevent a cyber attack on your business, but taken collectively and by educating your employees, these can help prevent things that are preventable.
