October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and it’s a great time to focus on the importance of cybersecurity for businesses. It's a great time to shed light on the importance of safeguarding your business from the relentless onslaught of cyber threats. Remember, it's typically more costly to try and clean up after the fact vs. being proactive and putting measures in place to prevent an incident from taking place.
Below are some of the key security measures we help our clients put in place to protect their organization, increase efficiency, and proactively configure their environment for smooth operations.
Top 5 security measures you can do now to protect your business
- Multifactor authentication (MFA): Big bang for your buck! MFA is a security measure that requires users to provide two or more forms of authentication to access an account. This can include something you know (like a password), something you have (like a phone), or something you are (like a fingerprint). MFA is important because it adds an extra layer of security to your accounts, making it much harder for threat actors to gain access. By using MFA, SMBs can protect their sensitive data from unauthorized access and prevent costly data breaches.
- Strong passwords: Strong passwords are essential for protecting your accounts from cyber threats. A strong password should be at least 12 characters long and include a mix of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. It’s also important to avoid using common words or phrases that can be easily guessed. By using strong passwords, SMBs can prevent unauthorized access to their accounts and protect their sensitive data.
- Password manager: A password manager is a tool that helps you generate and store strong passwords securely. Password managers can also help you manage your passwords across multiple accounts, making it easier to keep track of them. By using a password manager, SMBs can ensure that their employees are using strong passwords and reduce the risk of data breaches caused by weak passwords.
- System patching: System patching involves updating your software and operating systems to fix security vulnerabilities. Cybercriminals often exploit these vulnerabilities to gain access to your systems and steal sensitive data. By keeping your systems up-to-date with the latest patches, SMBs can reduce the risk of cyber attacks and protect their sensitive data.
- Cybersecurity awareness training for staff: Cybersecurity awareness training is essential for helping employees recognize phishing attempts and other cyber threats. Phishing is a common tactic used by cybercriminals to trick people into giving away sensitive information like usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers. By providing cybersecurity awareness training for staff, SMBs can reduce the risk of successful phishing attacks and protect their sensitive data.
Cloud Matrix IT positions our clients to mitigate cyber threats with these basic security configurations and a lot much more. The proactiveness of our IT PROTECT solution and curated IT best practices creates a smooth and secure environment that won't keep you up at night.
For more security measures to help protect your business:
Top Ten Cybersecurity Best Practices