Welcome to 2018 and we hope none of our readers became a victim of cybercrime. Unfortunately, 2017 was a bad year for cybercrime and you can read more about that here – http://bit.ly/2iTBoc3.
Unfortunately, it seems that the frequency of cyber attacks is only like to rise this year. As a follow up, we have decided to publish a guide on how to protect yourself from cyber-attacks and how to stay safe online.
So what can you do to avoid being a victim?
Prevention is always better than cure so, as a bare minimum, you should have all or most of the following in place:
- Implement security policies. This means having a firewall in place and all PCs should have anti-virus software enabled. Windows 10 now comes with built-in anti-virus, for example.
- Educate staff so that they know they should not open emails with attachments from unknown sources (this is the most common source of ransomware attacks).
- Make your passwords long, strong and unique. Use a different password for each account and use a password manager.
- Make sure all data is regularly backed-up to a secure site.
- Have a cyber-attack response plan in place. Develop an appropriate cyber security response capability which will enable you to adopt a systematic, structured approach to cyber security incident response, including selection and management of external suppliers.
What should you do when you are attacked?
- Don’t be in denial.
- Do inform your customers. Don’t be like Uber….
- Don’t pay ransoms!
- Investigate the source of the breach and fix it!
- Recover systems, data and connectivity.
- Be proactive and reflective. Improve any processes that enabled the breach.
If you have concerns over your security policies or would like some advice and guidance, contact us at datacentreplus and we’ll be glad to help.
