Just within the past year, cyber-attacks have become a scary reality for practically every individual and organization. No matter who the individual victim, or what the size of the business or the organization’s government stature, the looming threat of hackers on a mission to steal information is real.
And, as the frequency of cyber-attacks and data breaches grows, the failure to have a plan of counterattack for your company is no an option.
Instead, businesses must be prepared and responsible when it comes to protecting themselves from hackers. Here’s how:
Know the risks.
Properly protecting your company from a cyber-attack starts with a well-rounded understanding of the internal and external vulnerabilities your business faces when it comes to a hacker. You’ll want to have a finger on the ways in which a hacker can gain entry to your system by identifying points of weakness. The best way to do this is by getting informed about the various cyber fraud schemes and threats — phishing, malware and system hacking — that businesses face.
Encrypt data.
From bank routing digits to employee social security numbers, today’s hackers are on the hunt for standard company-held information that typically gets left lying around. For companies holding important data, be sure to take measures to always have this information encrypted. Keep your information safe by turning to full-disk encryption tools which come standard with most operating systems on. Switching the encryptions of these devices on shouldn’t take more than a minute and will encrypt every file on your drive without slowing it down.
Using this feature does require some added attention, though. This is because the encryption will only activate in scenarios a login is not in use. For hackers, this means that all they need is for an employee to take a brief break and head over to the office kitchen in order to attack a system with virus and malware. So, to enforce your measures, be sure to set your computers to automatically…