Cybercrime is on the rise today. People are sharing their lives on social media, we use mobile phones for almost every task, new technologies are arriving, and remote work is gaining popularity – all these factors give attackers new ways and opportunities to access personal data. While companies worry about their security posture and apply measures to prevent attacks such as zero trust architecture, experts believe that cybercrime will only rise in 2023.
In fact, the report shows that there will be 28.5 billion networked devices around the world in 2022, growing from 18 billion in 2017. While some believe that only large and well-known businesses can become targets for hackers, companies of all sizes are in danger today. It is especially vital for those who keep sensitive user information, like eCommerce businesses and healthcare organisations.
After COVID-19 and the start of remote work, cybercriminals also switch to remote operations. To be more specific, Malwarebytes’ report, Enduring from home COVID-19’s impact on business security, also found that remote working accounted for 20% of cybersecurity attacks that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021 was the same, but the number of attacks has only grown thanks to the increased use of mobile apps.
What is Cybersecurity?
While everyone knows what cyber attack means, not everyone understands the meaning of cybersecurity. Cybersecurity services are the collection of measures and practices that specialists take to protect software, networks, programs, or systems from potential attacks.
Since attacks vary and depend on your business and the attacker’s desire, companies should also know the types of threats they may face. These include malware, denial of service, theft of data, unauthorised access, tampering with data, and any other type of malicious actions.
5 Effective Cybersecurity Practices to Consider in 2023
While efficient cybersecurity involves constant monitoring and improving the security posture, companies can still use the following practices to increase their data safety in 2023:
Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
A multi-factor authentication is an effective tool in preventing unauthorised users from accessing sensitive company data. To achieve the most secure user sign-ins, you must use a combination of the latest technologies and elements like biometrics, SMS/text messages, and emails while packing it with security questions. Using extra protection layers such as text verification, email verification, or time-based security codes is an excellent way to protect your data.
Even though it is safe when your employee logs in on a managed device from the corporate network, if an unknown user tries to log in from an unknown network on an unmanaged device, ask them to go through additional security layers.
Create a Strong Password Policy
Since you have many employees working with you, they usually log in to the organisation’s networks. However, most people tend to use easier passwords or similar passwords for several accounts. This makes it easier for hackers to access your data. So one of the simple yet effective strategies to protect your organisation’s network, create a strong password security policy following these practices:
Longer passwords
Make it possible to create passwords with a minimum length of 15 characters.
Mix characters
Secure passwords usually contain a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. The more complex and unrelated the password is, the harder it will be to be hacked.
Don’t use memorable keyboard paths
It isn’t recommended to use any sequential keyboard paths such as a1s2d3 or asfgjk.
Always change passwords
Create an interval and always change your passwords on time. This will reduce the chance of being hacked.
Use a password manager
Password managers can be a great tool if you worry about creating a simple password. They auto-generate and store secure passwords.
Provide Cybersecurity Training
Cybersecurity awareness allows an organisation to stay safer. Even though most dangerous attacks happen due to poor security posture, the lion’s share of data leaks happens due to an employee opening a ransom file or link. That is why most modern companies have already adapted security training, especially for remote workers. This will help your employees recognise dangerous links and files, protecting their personal data and information that may damage your organisation.
Perform Penetration Testing
Penetration testing is currently the most effective and quick way for a company to check how exciting security posture works and how teams react in a case of attack. Also known as a pen test, this method mimics an actual attack, using the same tools, techniques, and processes as attackers to find and demonstrate the company impacts of weaknesses in a system.
Penetration testing UK usually simulates all types of attacks that may potentially threaten a business. The goal of this testing is to examine whether a system is strong enough to prevent or inform about attacks from authenticated and unauthenticated positions while also checking how security teams react.
Create Data Backups
Data backups are an excellent way to save sensitive information if the attack succeeds. It also allows you to boost the protection of your personal and business data secure from a ransomware attack. Ransomware refers to malicious software that can be accidentally deployed by an employee by clicking on a malicious link or opening a file. Once this software is deployed, all data on the site is taken hostage.
Therefore, performing regular data backups can ensure protection. The choice is vast, but most prefer to use the cloud to create a copy of your information on a server and host it in a remote location. If the system is hacked, you will always be able to restore your data.
