It’s that time of year again. Holiday shopping season - where retailers see an uptick in online sales and all media outlets warn us to be vigilant to online security threats. This year, we have decided to join in the chorus of voices. Here are some things you can do to help protect your business.
Updates
Most malware exploit known, and in many cases, patched vulnerabilities in programs. By keeping operating systems and line of business applications updated, you are more likely to remain unaffected by these types of attacks. Most managed service providers will minimally have a patching policy in place for your operating systems.
Anti-virus (AV)
AV will help with the detection, prevention, and elimination of viruses. Recently, our AV vendor partner Webroot made their Web Shield more visible to users by not only verifying the security of search results, but also using icons to visually show users whether the sites are safe or not.
Access
By being intentional about the access each user gets to your business network, you can help prevent critical data from being accessed by malicious actors. Not everyone will need access to the company financial data – it can be locked down to just the few people that need it to do their jobs.
Wireless Internet
Company WiFi should only be accessed by managed devices. Create a guest network for employee personal cellphones and guests to keep your company data further away from potentially vulnerable devices. Be careful when accessing Public WiFi networks, as these tend to be the most insecure way to access the internet.
While this has been said hundreds of times, it’s worth repeating: emails, links, and attachments from unknown senders have a higher probability of being malicious. However, hackers are getting more creative and less obvious to make their success more likely. Gone are the days of the foreign prince who will make you rich if you send him money first. Now hackers are spoofing emails to appear to be from an executive within your own company asking you to transfer money or some other task that allows them to execute their plan. Something is usually a little off in these types of social engineering emails that may tip you off; the best way to be sure is to call the sender before taking action.
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