se lawyers, like the team at Spolin Law P.C., see that when companies utilize cybersecurity best practices they have the tools they need to investigate what really happened, especially in the case of identity theft.
The right security training can help employees spot phishing attempts and dangerous links. Make sure your workers know to look for signs like:
- Poor grammar or misspellings
- Anonymous messages that don't identify the employee by name
- Emails that come from free domains like Gmail.com or Yahoo.com
- Emails that include web links instead of text-based messages
- Unsolicited attachments that could carry malware
- Domain names that don't match the company's name (Fedx.com instead of Fedex.com, for example)
You can also use phishing simulators like Infosec IQ, Gophish, or LUCY to test your employees' ability to spot fraudulent emails. When you find knowledge gaps, you can include new information in your next training session.
Keep your employees updated about the most recent phishing trends, and encourage them to report suspicious emails to their managers.
2) Use Security Levels to Limit Access to Sensitive Data
Only a few of your employees need access to sensitive data such as client payment info and business development plans. A customer service worker, for example, doesn't need to view a client's credit card number. Perform a data audit and make sure that all sensitive data is on a need-to-know basis.
Set a security level for each person so you can limit their access to systems. Doing so will make it harder for a hacker to steal data while using an employee's profile. Most operating systems and major software apps make it easy to set security levels. Microsoft, for instance, uses sensitivity labels that encrypt files and folders. Only users with permission can view the folder's contents.
It's also a good idea to monitor event logs to see who's accessing sensitive files and folders. Many cloud platforms will offer detailed analytics reports so you can identify any unauthorized access and change permissions accordingly.
3) Update On-Prem Software or Migrate to Cloud
Cybercriminals and software developers play a constant game of cat-and-mouse. When developers release new products, hackers start looking for vulnerabilities they can use to infiltrate user systems. In response, developers have to write new code that blocks the vulnerabilities that hackers find.
Most operating systems and enterprise applications have an automatic update option. However, it's up to you to enable this. A lot of IT teams choose not to perform automatic updates so that they can maintain a stable environment. This is an acceptable approach, but you need to factor it into your risk mitigation strategy and create alternative processes.
Another alternative is to migrate to the cloud. Cloud providers update their systems updates automatically, which means that you're always logging into the latest version. You also have the protection of the cloud service's data security measures, which tend to be more robust than enterprise-level cybersecurity.
4) Take Steps to Protect from Malware
If you're storing sensitive data, you must have enterprise-grade virus protection on all systems. This offers a layer of data protection against viruses, keystroke loggers, and other malicious programs that could lead to a data breach.
However, anti-virus is just one tool in the fight against malware. Education is perhaps the best way to keep malicious programs out of your network. Support your users and help them to recognize the risks of opening email attachments or visiting unfamiliar websites. When in doubt, don't click it.
You can also limit the impact of malware by taking proactive measures. Ransomware, for example, locks away your data until you pay a ransom. You can mitigate this risk by keeping business-critical data in a secure environment, such as a data warehouse.
5) Use VPNs to Protect Remote Workers
Remote working is generally secure, as many cloud services use a robust level of encryption. However, remote workers are sometimes vulnerable to man-in