Did you know that the average time it takes for a company to realise they are under attack from cyber criminal activity is 200 days? While some cyber attacks like ransomware are up front and obvious, others are cleverly less so. As such, during this time the hacker is already on the network, silently waiting, watching, and stealing data. Scary thought right?
The truth is that hackers and cyber criminals of this nature want to avoid being detected for as long as possible. They don’t want you to know that they’re there, so they remain hidden and undetected for as long as possible, doing their thing. So while everything appears to be working normally, why would you even notice?
The key is to be able to make it very difficult for cyber criminals to get into your system. As such here are 5 top tips to help you do exactly that.
Educate, educate educate
Education is without doubt the most effective tool in cyber attack prevention. Be sure employees are aware of how important cyber security is and make them accountable. Fifty pairs of eyes are better than one so teach them to detect suspicious applications running pop-ups and warning messages etc. Teach them to be vigilant when browsing websites and what to look for in trustworthy websites. In doing so it will increase your company’s ability to recognise cyber crime early, so it can be dealt with before it’s too late.
Maintain and collect security logs
By keeping and regularly monitoring security logins it allows you to look for any suspicious activity at a glance. It will highlight any abnormal activity and even spot any patterns in behaviour, should it occur. Ultimately logs are a great source of digital forensics which can not only determine root cause analysis. but can also be used as educative examples to aid future preventative methods.
Update systems constantly
Always update systems when prompted. This can’t be reiterated enough! Updates contain the latest security patches so while it’s not a fool-proof method of halting all cyber criminal activity, it can and will stop the opportunist looking for an easy entry into your system.
Passwords and password protection
Did you know that the age of the average social media password can be measured in years not months. What’s more social media companies don’t always do the best job of prompting you to change it. Always use strong passwords. Never use dates of birth, names, and pet names. Instead use a series of numbers letters and characters and change it often. Also limit passwords to those who really need access. Don’t give access to every Tom, Dick, or Harry. Instead make use of privileged accounts with levels of control.
Stop ransomware and malware at the end point
When companies do provide privileged access to team members they run the risk of giving them the ability to install or access applications as they wish. Obviously, this can pose a major risk when it comes to opening yourself up to cyber attacks as it allows the hacker to install any one of a number of tools, enabling them to easily and quickly return. As a result organisations should implement controls that prevent any application or tool (including USB devices) to be installed on their systems.
Here at MA security, in addition to providing security personnel for events, industries, and high net worth individuals, we also carry out security risk analysis. If you’d like to find out just how vulnerable or secure your system is, then contact us on 1300 020 406 for help. Remember prevention is far less costly than cure, so call the experts today.
