‘It will never happen to me’ is something we hear often when it comes to Cyber Security. To a cybercriminal, if data can be exploited it will. Can you afford your business going offline?
Cybercrime has grown to become the world’s third-largest economy. With so many forms of cyber fraud knocking about, from phishing and malware to ransomware and spyware just being the tip of the iceberg, is there more you can be doing to protect your business and data?
After heading to Digital Somerset’s fantastic Cyber Security & The Dark Web event last week, we’ve got a few up-to-date top tips to keep your business locked and bolted online.
There’s no such thing as ‘Free Wi-Fi’
As tempting as it may be, free Wi-Fi is not always as peachy as it sounds. Public Wi-Fi networks are naturally less secure – you don’t know who has set them up, or who else is connecting to them.
Be careful of signing up for public Wi-Fi access that ask for personal details such as your email address. Maybe your mobile device as a hotspot instead (it’s easier than it sounds and there’s lots of simple instructions on Google) but if you really must use public Wi-Fi, consider setting up and using an alternative email address that isn’t your primary one.
Big Brother *might* be watching you…
Keep those keypads covered when punching in passwords in public – you never know who is watching.
Forget your mother’s maiden name…
Your password needs to be secure – made up of a mixture of letters, numbers, and special characters. Yes, it needs to be memorable, but not something that is easily guessed. A great suggestion is to think of a memorable place to you (holiday location, somewhere nostalgic, or simply favourite restaurant) and tap it into what3words.com. This will give you the exact three words from your pinpointed location and then just needs the addition of a memorable number or odd capital letter thrown in. Tip: Do not to use your office or home address – that’s too easy! Lastly, remember to make it a good length; there’s some crazy data that relates to longer passwords taking trillions, even quadrillions years to hack – take a look.
Click that red circle…It’s easy to put off doing that update you’ve been notified of, but updates can include improvements and new features that involve security protection against viruses and other forms of malware. Updates are there to protect you and your businesses, but you need click that red circle to install them for them to be effective.