This holds true to enterprises, businesses, and personal/home use alike.
Until you can work with us, here are the top 7 tips you can do to improve your own cyber security to keep your data safe:
- Use strong passwords. Simple and commonly used passwords, or even the same password on multiple websites is cyber security risk. The longer the password, the better. Each additional character in the password length will exponentially make it more difficult to decrypt. In case of any keyboard loggers or compromised passwords in general, make sure to have a different login for each website you visit. A password manager can help assist in keeping track of all of your passwords. Additionally, be very cautious if you answer your secret questions legitimately; I personally use random generated passwords for secret questions as well.
- Two-Factor Authentication. 2FA adds an entire extra layer of security. There are tons of apps for your iPhone or Android that manage and control two factor authentication, such as Google Authenticator or Duo Security. Using two different forms of authentication such as passwords, authenticator or biometrics can greatly decrease your cyber security risk.
- Updates! Keeping your software or operating system up to date is possibly one of the easiest and biggest increases to your cyber security. Hackers are constantly trying to break into and find vulnerabilities in your software or operating systems, and developers are constantly in a rat race to patch these issues. Make sure you patch any and everything to patch any known vulnerabilities.
- VPN. A Virtual Private Network can protect your online activity by encrypting your internet traffic and making you anonymous online.
- Verify the source. Never trust any e-mails or messages you see online, unless you can verify the source. If you are not sure if the e-mail message is from a trusting source, never click a single link. With one wrong click from an email, you can compromise your whole system.
- Monitor your accounts, especially banking accounts. Once a month at the very least, preferably twice a month, you should review your transactions to make sure you recognize each and every single purchase, even if it is a small purchase, you should always know what is being charged to your accounts. A common technique hackers use is to charge a small amount, on hundreds of accounts.
- Limit the personal information you leave online. Be cautious about sharing any information about yourself and be very cautious that if you ever provide your social security number it is a trusted source. Especially if your secret questions are answered honestly, some hackers specifically look for clues in your online profiles to attack your secret questions.
By following these tips, you can greatly increase your cyber security. If you have been a victim in a recent cyberattack, please contact us immediately.
"Great results can be achieved with small forces"
-- Sun Tzu