McAfee estimates that more than $600 billion was spent in 2018 alone on the remediation of cybersecurity issues. Are you confident that your company is protected?
It’s a dangerous time to be online, specifically for businesses. There are too many opportunities for staff members to make a poor decision while multitasking — and suddenly your business is battling intrusive malware that could cost tens of thousands of dollars in remediation. Keeping your organization safe online means staying constantly vigilant and reminding teams (and yourself!) that a quick and innocent click could lead to a devastating attack. Protecting your business against these challenges does require time, effort and training, but these quick tips from the cybersecurity pros offer high-level reminders that might reduce the possibility of an attack.
Top 10 Ways to Stay Safe Online
When you read through these tips, they might seem quite self-explanatory but you would be surprised how often smart and tech-savvy individuals fall prey to attacks from hackers that are utilizing these same tricks. It never hurts to reinforce these ideas with your team!
1. Stop the overshare on social media. Don’t tell people when you are leaving town, your location, the names of family members and more as this information can be picked up by hackers and used in phishing attacks.
2. Be careful about using public WiFi, which is all-too-easy for hackers to infiltrate — avoid this type of connection unless you are utilizing a VPN on your computer.
3. Only download files from organizations that you trust, and be wary of any free programs or apps that you want to review.
4. Get aggressive with your password management, using a different password on each site. Consider leveraging a strong password manager for your personal peace of mind.
5. Take the time to turn on your computer’s privacy settings, as well as those on your mobile phone.
6. Always enable two-factor or multi-factor authentication, adding text-based or email-based codes to help protect your account.
7. Stay away from websites that you are not confident are secure. Sites offering inexpensive “too good to be true” offerings might just be a front for hackers.
8. Keep in mind that the individual you are talking to online might be someone completely different than you expect — be cautious.
9. Don’t click too quickly online, as you could easily tap or click something that could cause significant damage to your mobile device or computer.
10. Maintain software patches and updates as soon as they become available.
Protecting your organization against the massive cybersecurity challenges on the horizon requires ongoing diligence and dedication, but the payoff is certainly worth the effort.
Cybercrime is a $600 Billion Drain on the Global Economy
McAfee recently released a report that estimates a drain on the global economy of epic proportions: more than $600 billion spent in 2018 alone on cybercrime. To put that amount in perspective, that’s around one percent of the global GDP — all of that wealth funneled to cybercriminals that are very rarely caught or brought to justice. Criminals are extremely speedy in their adoption of new technology, quickly pivoting to take advantage of new vulnerabilities as they are discovered and changing their business models as needed to gain access to intellectual property or customer data. The total impact of cybercrime is likely much greater, as organizations are being forced to spend a significant portion of their IT time and resources protecting their digital assets.
Protecting your personal and business assets requires ongoing diligence and a commitment to security both for your organization and for your clients. See how the professionals at HRCT have been helping organizations stay safe for over 30 years, working through advanced cybersecurity readiness steps to ensure they are ready to combat current and emerging threats. Contact our team of experts at 757-255-8905 for more information about our cybersecurity expertise or schedule your free initial consultation online anytime by filling out our quick contact form. Our professionals are dedicated to the success of organizations throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region as one of the top technology services providers for organizations of all sizes.