October is Cyber Security Awareness Month

October is Cyber Awareness Month as designed by the Department of Homeland Security. Established in 2004, it was set up with the purpose of raising peoples attention to their internet security. In the years since, cyber threats continued to increase and now it has become a national problem with infrastructure such as the Colonial Pipeline being targeted.

The numbers speak for themselves. Risk Based Security, in their August report , “2021 Mid Year Data Breach QuickView Report,” revealed a staggering amount of data breached.  There were 1,767 publicly reported breaches in the first six months of 2021, which exposed a total of 18.8 billion records. However, the decline of reported data breaches does not mean security has improved over the pandemic. The key word there is that these were publicly reported cases, there could be thousands more that have not been reported. Many hackers go after smaller companies because unlike someone like Equifax or Target, which had its servers hacked and several hundred million of their accounts compromised, resulting them paying millions.

Here are a few ways to protect yourself

• Watch what you share: Social media is a double edge sword. You can promote your business, but your company and your employees can post things that harm your reputation. Hackers can use this to do social engineering of your accounts
• Lock down your logins: Change your passwords frequently or make it so only certain people can access it
• Clean your computer out: Old files and apps can contain malicious software which can open your network up.
• Avoid Public Wi-Fi to do work: Public Wi-Fi is a necessary evil. However, using your computer on a public router can easily make them a target for hackers as they scout out places like Starbucks and other shops.
• Suspicious emails: If you think an email is suspicious or contains links in the email, Don’t Open It. They contain malware designed to wreck systems and steal information

The most important thing is to be vigilant. Update your security and always keep your computer up to date with the latest software. Don’t be fooled by emails and texts encouraging you to download anything.

For More insight into how secure your cyber security is:(Link)