Paul Stokes, IT Director at Clyde Companies
Each year, cyber-crimes are becoming more prevalent in business. These crimes not only pose a risk to your company, but also to your employees and customers. Protecting your business from these crimes is now more important than ever. Luckily, there are things you can do to guard against cyber attacks and other cyber risks. I have listed some popular threats you need to be aware of and ways that you can provide some protection. Security threats:
- Mobile devices – As smartphones and tablets become more commonplace in the business environment companies will need to take steps to make sure business data is protected.
- Hacking data – Cyber criminals work very hard to find ways to get credit card numbers, social security numbers, medical records, and other sensitive data.
- Viruses and malware – People are often your greatest enemies as they browse and click on different popups and attachments.
- Remote user access – Mobile users access company data from any external machine or device.
Ways to protect your data and systems:
- Update firewalls and intrusion detection systems.
- Access Control – Make sure the right people have access to the right data.
- Encrypt sensitive data – If the criminals steal encrypted data, they can’t do much with it.
- Consider using cloud applications and systems. More Fortune 500 companies are moving their systems to the cloud. Cloud providers will increase security as they protect customers’ data.
- Anti-virus and anti-malware applications – Keep the definitions up to date to block most current threats.
- Continue to read the news about new threats. As long as cyber-crimes make money for the hackers, they will continue to find ways to break the system.