For many people, new year resolutions are an important opportunity for self-improvement. From promising to exercise more and aiming to lose weight to wanting to eat more healthy. Almost all of the resolutions are health-related – but cybersecurity and IT health don’t make the list.
In 2019, cyberattacks were at an all-time high. Security breaches rose up 11% from the previous year. It took an average of 50 days from the time a breach happened to the time it is caught. A ransomware attack occurred every 14 seconds. 60% of all Americans were exposed to cyber fraud. The list goes on and on, yet companies still aren’t making cybersecurity a priority.
In 2020, while you’re making your new year’s resolutions, add cybersecurity to that list. Need a little help on where to start? Check out our list of cybersecurity resolutions for you!
Be More Aware. Most cyberattacks succeed because their targets let their defenses down. Malware-infected email attachments work because the recipient isn’t paying attention for instance. Most scam emails can be detected quite easily – you just need to spend an extra second looking.
Be More Informed. Take a few minutes and truly understand how attacks happen. Educate your employees on what to look for and how to report it if they find something suspicious. If you asked around, most people don’t know what to look for.
Multifactor authentication. This method of confirming a user’s identity when logging in adds another layer of protection by asking for a code received on a mobile phone or on a computer. It means that, even if someone gets their hands on our password, accessing our account is more complicated.
Backups. Make backups of your data on either an external hard drive or the cloud, since it’s the easiest way to recover from a ransomware attack.
Stay Updated. Updating your software can be annoying, especially when the update notification pops up while you’re in the middle of an online shopping transaction, but not managing your software updates appropriately could result in much worse consequences, like identity theft and malware infections.
Lock Your Computer. This action seems simple, but it’s often the most overlooked — and mostly because people don’t want to bother entering their password multiple times per day. But setting your computer to go to sleep after a certain amount of time or automatically log out when the screen turns off can add another level of security.
Secure Wi-Fi. Public Wi-Fi is convenient, but it’s also dangerous. Hackers can easily use it to skim information from your device while it’s connected. This is especially problematic if you have sensitive company data in your possession.
The biggest resolution of all, plan to keep your resolutions! Make calendar reminders or set monthly meetings to make sure everyone in the office is practicing safe cybersecurity precautions.