Sec_rity is nothing without “U”

Whether you are a multi-million-pound company or a local shop, work in the private sector or public sector, an IT professional or an independent internet user, everyone has a role to play in cyber security.

A laissez-faire attitude toward cyber security is like a health epidemic, it only takes 1 person to infect the masses and then everyone suffers. If a cyber security program isn’t supported and implemented by all departments of the business, your company will be left vulnerable to bugs, threats and breaches that will eat away at your profits and reputation.

How can “U” protect against such threats?

It is essential for “U” to remain vigilant and take additional steps to protect your business and sensitive data against cyber-attacks. Following are some of the steps “U” can take to increase and improve the security of your firm or personal IT assets;

Encryption

Encryption technology is one of the key methods for protecting any data that is stored online. What started as simple code used over a telegraph in WW1, is now a sophisticated coded algorithm that allows data to be safely stored and transferred. Encrypted data is known as “cipher text” and can only be decrypted with a key or password. While encryption cannot protect against all cyber-attacks, the technology makes data theft a much more difficult task for hackers, reducing the risk of such an attack against you.

Create Strong Passwords

The use of a weak password by employees is a major risk to any business as the data becomes easier for cyber criminals to hack. By including a mixture of characters such as lower case, upper case, letters, numbers and special symbols, then it becomes harder for the cyber criminals to crack your password security. Also, you can setup two-factor authentication by adding a phone number to your password, so whenever you try to sign in to your account, it will ask you to enter a security code which you received through a SMS.

Use Anti-Virus

The virus is one of the biggest threats to computer and servers as it breaks the immunity level of the systems, thus making it vulnerable to outside invasion. A reliable antivirus software should be installed in computers and servers to scan the folders and files on a regular basis for any unwanted viruses. Also, the software should update to the latest version so the protection it provides remains current and reliable.

Install a Firewall

Just like a security guard to your building, a firewall is a guard to a computer. A firewall secures your system by controlling web traffic coming into and streaming out of your business. Having installed powerful firewalls on your computer systems, this gives cyber criminals a tough time trying to get access to any IT network.

Backup, Backup, Backup

This process doesn’t have to be complicated. The important thing is to have more than one copy of all documents stored at an alternative location that can be accessed by employees. Storing data on USBs, hard drives or with a cloud service provider are effective ways of backing up your data. This means if some IT device was to break, piece of software malfunctions or you are hit with a data breach, you will still have access to the important business data which allows you to continue as usual.

These are all things that “U” can do to improve your security at home and at work. However, the cyber space is ever evolving, and cyber security needs to keep pace with the evolution of the threat. Countering that constantly evolving threat is in everybody’s interest and is everybody’s responsibility to keep it safe and open.