5 Cybersecurity Tips from the Experts at Certus

 

The threat of cyber attacks is more serious than ever. The 2016 Cybersecurity Report published by DMR tells us that 51% of businesses have suffered a cyber attack and have spent more than $400 billion repairing the damage. Forbes published an article that predicts these costs to rise to $2.9 trillion in 2019. Read and implement these five cybersecurity tips to avoid falling victim to a costly network security breach.

1. Take Inventory of Your Digital Footprint

Attention to detail here is critical. In your business, there is so much technology that touches your network. You have all the computers, printers, servers, routers and switches that are used to operate your business. Then you have all the mobile devices, which is where it gets tricky. Not only do you have to account for all the company-issued mobile devices, but you must also account for all BYOD connected devices as well. The second someone uses their device to access your wireless network or downloads an app to access their work email, they are officially part of your digital footprint.

2. Implement Secure Wi-Fi Access for Your Office

Wi-Fi security is not just about having a password to enable access to your internet. Best practices include deploying multiple Wi-Fi gateways for employees, BYOD technology, and guests that may visit your office. The first gateway provides employees production-level access to all company resources across the network infrastructure, including servers, printers, and file storage. The second gateway is for employee-owned devices. BYOD access, as outlined in the company’s internet use policy, may limit the ability to download or upload files on this device while also limiting bandwidth use. The third gateway is for guests that need simple access to the internet but provides no access to your production network.

3. Keep Your Systems Updated

Updates and patches are probably the easiest things you can do to reduce your chances of a cyber attack. Updates are annoying, but there is a reason they are always being pushed out. If you read the description of most updates, they are security-related. The more discoveries IT professionals make in the threat landscape, the more software updates security vendors can push out to protect your technology environment from future attacks.

4. Invest in Cybersecurity Infrastructure & Instant Recovery Data Backup

Nowadays, the leading minds in technology are focusing their attention on creating hardware and software to protect against cyber attacks. Enterprises have invested hundreds of billions of dollars on security initiatives, but there are many affordable solutions that your business can implement today. Another great defense to cyber attacks is a data backup solution that offers an instant recovery option. Should your network, or a system, go down due to a cyber attack (or even a hardware malfunction), this feature will allow you to get back up and running in minutes instead of days.

5. Educate Your Employees on Cybersecurity

The most important step of all is education. Regardless of your security, your business is still at the mercy of employees opening the door to new attacks. Most attacks come in through phishing emails that appear legitimate but contain redirecting links or malware attachments. Employees that don’t know what to look out for could unknowingly allow a malicious attack to consume your network.

If you would like to learn more, contact the Cybersecurity Professionals at Certus for a free consultation.

About The Author

Evan Berk is Managing Partner at Certus Technologies, an IT Managed and Cloud Services firm that specializes in helping clients dramatically improve their business productivity.

Evan is passionate about simplifying and demystifying complex Information Technology systems and believes that the best IT systems should make our lives easier and more productive, both in the workplace and at home. He can be contacted at EBerk@CertusTechnologies.com or at 973-944-5000.