Five Ways to Protect your Company from Cybersecurity Threats

In today’s connected world, it’s not a matter of if your company will be targeted by cybercriminals, but when. Bad actors can paralyze systems with ransomware, capture sensitive data through phishing schemes, or simply steal data to be sold on the dark web or used for other malicious purposes.

As a business leader, you play a critical role in guarding against such threats and in building a culture of security. Don’t believe the fallacy that your IT team and service providers alone bear the responsibility for cybersecurity. This article will highlight five steps that can be taken right now to make your company more resilient to these ever-growing threats.

1. Engage your team in cyber education

Employees can unwittingly open the door to cyberattacks by falling victim to phishing e-mail scams or inadvertently downloading malicious software. Phishing e-mails can be very convincing and appear to be from legitimate sources. But in reality, they are sent by scammers to trick your employee into divulging sensitive information or login credentials. Everybody in the company should receive training on how to identify the red flags of such scams. Internal procedures should be established to ensure employees receive training during the onboarding process and a refresher course at least annually. There are many free training videos and tools available online, including cisa.gov, to help build your team’s awareness of cybersecurity risks and how to avoid falling for the traps.

2. Make use of multifactor authentication tools

When passwords and login credentials fall into the wrong hands, multifactor authentication can prevent unauthorized users from signing in. Also known as two-step verification, it works by prompting users to provide a second set of factors to sign in. A common way this is achieved is by sending a unique pin to a predetermined phone number or email address. That pin must then be entered by the user in addition to the password before access is granted. Most financial institutions now offer multifactor authentication as an optional security measure for online banking. This is often a free and very effective tool in preventing account takeovers and other fraud. In addition to banking, many software programs also offer this feature.

3. Enable automatic software updates

Cybercriminals often look for vulnerabilities in software that isn’t up to date as an easy way to break into your network and infect your devices with malicious software or steal data. You can take a major step in preventing this by simply turning on automatic updates for computer operating systems (i.e. Windows or Apple OS) and other software installed on computers, phones and other devices with access to the company’s network. When automatic updates are not available, companies should institute policies and procedures for keeping software up to date.

4. Secure your wireless network

Having a wireless network without proper security measures in place can seriously expose your company. Take these important steps to enhance security:

• Turn on encryption and firewall protections when setting up your network. Encryption prevents anyone who accesses your network from being able to view the data being transmitted. Firewalls are network security tools that serve as a barrier between your trusted internal networks and untrusted external networks.
• Many network routers come with default passwords to allow for ease in setup. Always change default passwords to new, stronger passwords that are difficult to guess. Strong passwords typically include upper-case and lower-case characters, numbers, and special characters such as *,!,^,#,$, etc.
• Set up a separate “guest” account on your wireless network to restrict access. A guest account serves as a separate wireless channel that is isolated from your secure, primary channel. The guest channel should always have a different password than your primary channel.

5. Consider Cyber Liability Insurance

A cyber liability policy is intended to cover losses as a result of data breaches and other cyberattacks. The range of coverage for such policies can vary greatly, from basic services that simply notify affected parties of data breaches to more comprehensive plans that cover lost funds, costs to recover or repair data, and even public relations consultants to help the company repair reputational damage. It’s important to first understand your company’s specific risks, liability exposure, and thoroughly review what is covered when selecting a policy.