Today, more than ever, we are seeing how technology, cyber and the whole digital sphere are accelerating at pace.
This ever-evolving landscape has seen an increase not only in the number of cyber threats but also the severity of the attacks.
Whether you’re running a new start-up or have been established for longer than you can remember, every business is a target for cybercrime. It’s, therefore, crucial to understand how to protect yourself or your business by identifying any vulnerabilities.
As life returns to a greater normality next week with people able to eat and drink indoors and larger groups meeting up to socialise, businesses across the region need to make sure they’re not affected by any unexpected setbacks.
To establish what potential threats you could experience, knowledge is key, so we have created a list of the most common risks businesses face and what you can do to reduce them.
Strong passwords and password variation – if a cybercriminal steals your password, they can then use it to access your accounts. Passwords on electronic devices are a crucial component so a strong one will help enhance your security by preventing guessing. Password variation is also very important technique as reusing the same one across different accounts opens you up as an easy target.
Manage your social media settings – keep your personal information locked down. Cybercriminals use a unique type of cyber-attack that involves the psychological manipulation of an individual in order to bypass security measures or gain sensitive information, also known as social engineering.
Keep your software updated – cybercriminals are able to use known flaws in your software to gain access to your system so keeping it up to date helps to withstand hacking technologies and methods.
Cloud vulnerabilities - cloud services are widely used and often deemed as essential to many for storing data remotely, yet it can open you up to a wide range of potential cyber-attacks. To help prevent this, make back ups of your sensitive information to an external storage device.
Use a secure network at all times – meaning any device connected to the internet, from smartwatches to connected cars, criminals can exploit this connectivity so setting a secure password on your wireless network will prevent unauthorized entities from hijacking the network.
Putting these small steps in place is a great place to start planning or re-evaluating your current strategy. To gain further access to guidance on how to keep your business running as successfully as possible, please visit our membership page for options available and to sign up today at www.ecrcentre.co.uk/membership.