Small businesses and private individuals should step up their computer security today. Statistics reveal that cyber criminals are attacking those two factions more intently now. Fortunately, reinforcing your line of security is not as hard as you think.
Small businesses and private individuals are both prone to thinking that they are the last in any cyber criminals’ hit list. With so many large corporations around the world, there’s little chance that any smart criminal will waste his time on you. The one thing you got right in that mindset is that those criminals are indeed very smart, and because they are, they understand that the small things are what make up the big things…and that is you.
Recent studies revealed that there is an increasing rate of cyber attacks on small business networks and private computers. You must be wondering about the motivation behind their sudden shift in attention.
Majority of small corporations and stay-at-home employees are normally linked in one way or another to a mother company. Since the best security measures are focused on that mother company, it will be easier for the cyber criminals to penetrate the weaker branches. Maintaining a strong line of defence against any cyber attack is therefore of utmost importance.
Ask yourself whether your computers are fit to withstand and repel intruders. If you are doubtful of that ‘yes’ that just rolled off your tongue, you should continue reading.
Identify Your Biggest Weakness
What is the root cause of all the loopholes in your computer system? That’s right, it’s the internet. While the internet in itself is a good tool, it is the pathway that enables outside forces to penetrate your database. You must understand that accessing the worldwide web involves a two way stream – uploading and downloading. As you are downloading data from the web, you are also uploading data to it. A frail web security is most likely to result in a breech – one that you will have trouble recovering from.
You have only two solutions to choose from: you can either fix threats with an antimalware software, or you can refrain from using the web altogether. Certainly, you wouldn’t prefer the latter.
Bear in mind that installing an antimalware software is not the end of your problems. You shoulder the responsibility of updating it and maximizing its capabilities. Perform custom scans on flash drives, removable hardware, and downloaded items before you run them in your computer system. Schedule full computer scans at least twice a week, especially if you are an avid internet user. Learning how to properly navigate your antimalware software will give you the upper hand against infections and intruders.
Provide Training
You can employ the best IT experts and utilize the toughest security measures, but as long as your colleagues and family members remain ignorant of malware threats, you are still vulnerable to penetration.
Establish a set of commandments to be followed in regards to safe computer usage. Employees who take their work at home using flash drives should be extra cautious when inserting that drive into businesses computers. Private gadgets are more susceptible to malware, and malware are quick to attack themselves to removable drives.
A lot of similar, basic knowledge are surprisingly uncommon to many people. Supervise a strict practice of safe usage, and urge them to read about the latest cyber attacks launched in the web. Malware and its kin evolve fast; hence computer security should also sustain a steady growth.
Plan Strategic Measures
Encrypting your company’s sensitive data is advantageous, as well as backing up your entire system. These measures, while they seem complex, are actually easy after you’ve done them once. Of course, you should perform these with the assistance of experts whom you trust. Experimenting on various encrypting software and computer codes may lead to the loss of your data entirely.
Assign few people to take responsibility for the company data that you have chosen to add security on. There’s little difference to those additional security if all your employees know how to access them. If, later on, one of those trusted employees resigns, make sure that you make changes to the codes you use. Some people sell information to cyber criminals for a certain amount of money. Don’t take risks.
Changing account passwords is more useful than people acknowledge it is. The same goes with creating strong passwords. While hackers do employ the services of intricate tools to decrypt your password, they don’t do so until they’ve tried the most obvious ones. Refrain from using terms and dates that can be easily linked to your company or to your personal life. Be clever and complex, but not so much that you will have a hard time remembering your passwords as well.