Cybersecurity services from Benjamin Dynkin and Atlas Cybersecurity today? And then there’s the not-insignificant concern of lost smartphones. A lost business phone in the wrong hands could be a complete disaster. At the very least, all phones used to conduct business should have password protection, whole-disk encryption software and a remote lock-and-data-wipe app. That way, you can erase all the information on a lost phone and prevent anyone else from using it. The rise of flexible work-from-home policies has been a major trend in recent years, which is generally great for employee morale but not so great in terms of security. It’s tricky but obviously crucial to keep up security measures when employees are doing their jobs remotely. The guidelines about smartphones apply here, but you also need to ensure that strong safeguards are in place on all company computers and devices, no matter where the employee is working. Find more info on Benjamin Dynkin.
Conduct an Inside Threat Analysis. An insider threat analysis will uncover any potential threats to your IT infrastructure that come from within your organization. This could be anything from employees and former employees to contractors, vendors, third party data suppliers or associates. Ensure that you have preparations to respond quickly and efficiently when you are faced with a cyber-attack. Communicate this plan to the rest of your organization and have someone in charge of ensuring the plan is carried out.
Disable Auto-Connect. Most phones in the US have a setting that allows a device to automatically connect to Wi-Fi networks as you pass through them on your day-to-day activities. While this is a nice feature when used at home, it’s not something you should allow while traveling abroad. Before you travel, change this setting so that your smartphone and laptop must be manually connected each time you wish to access the Web.
Use Anti-Virus Protection & Firewall. Anti-virus (AV) protection software has been the most prevalent solution to fight malicious attacks. AV software blocks malware and other malicious viruses from entering your device and compromising your data. Use anti-virus software from trusted vendors and only run one AV tool on your device. Using a firewall is also important when defending your data against malicious attacks. A firewall helps screen out hackers, viruses, and other malicious activity that occurs over the Internet and determines what traffic is allowed to enter your device. Windows and Mac OS X comes with their respective firewalls, aptly named Windows Firewall and Mac Firewall. Your router should also have a firewall built in to prevent attacks on your network.
Benjamin Dynkin on data breaches: These social engineering attacks are designed to fool you into causing a data breach. Phishing attackers pose as people or organizations you trust to easily deceive you. Criminals of this nature try to coax you into handing over access to sensitive data or provide the data itself. In a more brash approach, hackers might enlist software tools to guess your passwords. Brute force attacks work through all the possibilities for your password until they guess correctly. These attacks take some time but have become rapid as computer speeds continue to improve. Hackers even hijack other devices like yours via malware infections to speed up the process. If your password is weak, it might only take a few seconds to crack it.
