In today’s world, cyber security is as important as ever. With the ever-growing threats to businesses, having a strong security solution is incredibly essential.
We’ve all heard about enterprises paying huge fines or even going out of business owing to a simple hack to their systems. There are just far too many threats out there to ignore the risks – from ransomware to phishing, it could cost you your business.
Prevention is very much key and in this article we’ll show you how to prevent cyber-attacks and how to safeguard your organisation effectively.
Turn On Multifactor Authentication
It goes by far too many names: Two Factor Authentication, Multifactor Authentication, Two Step Factor Authentication, MFA and 2FA. They all mean exactly the same thing: opting-into an extra step when trusted websites and applications request that you confirm that actually who you say you are.
Your banking institution, your social media network, your school and your workplace…. They all want to ensure you’re the one who is accessing your information.
So, the industry is taking a step to double check. Rather than asking you for a password – which can be reused, more easily cracked, or stolen – they can check it’s you by asking for two types of information:
- They’ll ask for something that you know …. such as a PIN number or your sister’s middle name, together with something you have …. such as an authentication application or a confirmation text on your phone, or
- Something that you are …. for example a fingerprint or faceID
This second step is a lot more difficult for a hacker to fake. So, in order prove it’s you with two … two steps, that is.
Now that you understand what it is, you’ll see reminders for multifactor authentication all over. So opt-in. Begin with your email account, then financial services, then social media accounts, then online stores, and remember your gaming and streaming entertainment services.
Check On The Strength Of Your Passwords
Test the strength of your passwords, whether for work or play at a live casino online. When choosing a password, remember: the longer it is, the stronger it is. A strong password is – at a minimum – 12 characters long and difficult to guess. Utilising a sentence is a fantastic way to create a long password which you’ll never forget.
Train Your Staff
One of the most usual ways that cyber criminals get access to your data is via your employees. They’ll send false emails impersonating someone in your organisation and will either request personal details or for access to certain files. Links frequently seem legitimate to an untrained eye and it’s quite easy to fall into the trap. This is why employee awareness is crucial. One of the most successful methods of guarding against cyber-attacks and all kinds of data breaches is to train your employees about cyber-attack avoidance and inform them of current cyber-attacks.
They have to:
- Check links before clicking on them
- Verify email addresses from the received email (have a look here on how to check it)
- Utilise common sense prior to sending sensitive information. If a request seems to be odd, it probably is. It’s better to verify via a phone call with the person in question prior to actioning the “request”
