Are other people threatening your data?
OK so I’ve been hacked. I got a message this morning from Facebook telling me that they think somebody accessed my account. I think I know what caused it which was me clicking on a dodgy link – stupid and irresponsible, I know. I’ve now had to send out a message too my friends telling them that if they do receive a PM from me to ignore it. It’s something so easy to do and sometimes without thinking we just click on something that we shouldn’t click on. I am always promoting Internet security and how to stay safe online and yet I managed to compromise my own safety.
Fortunately I have a number of mechanisms in place that ensure that I stay protected. My password is extremely strong and certainly nothing that anyone would guess. In addition I do not use the same password for any two sites which means that if one site gets compromised then I’m not compromising any other sites. What are you doing to protect yourself?
How safe are your protections?
It doesn’t matter how old you are how long you been on computers and how tech savvy you are there are so many ways for the hackers to get to your site. It is an ongoing process of ensuring that your security is top notch. So even though I’ve been compromised it is not a difficult process to fix my biggest concern Is that the text message that was sent out may end up on somebody elses computer that is not as protected as I am and if they click the link it could do more damage to their machine then it has done to mine.
Why do we need protection
As we become more and more reliant on our mobile phones, tablets and computers particularly while we’re staying at home we are creating an environment which is primed for cyber criminals. The attacks are becoming more and more brazen and more and more sophisticated, compromising our data, our identity and our bank accounts.
Are your staff/family compromising your data
If you own or manage a business (or have several members of your family accessing your network) it’s essential that everyone knows what to do and what not to do when going online. According to a leading Cyber Security publication in Australia phishing attacks account for more than 80% of reported security incidents. Being aware of the risks and what to do to mitigate them is key to your organisations security. Are your staff trained in what to look out for? Many large organisations are implementing a strategy whereby they are educating staff on an ongoing basis so that they reduce their internal risks.
How can we improve this?
So what are some of the key areas that we should be telling our staff and making sure that they are following the necessary protocols in order to keep us safe.
- Do they have proper and secure antivirus protection mechanisms (not the freeware that many are currently using)
- Are the Operating Systems, Browsers and software being regularly patched
- Are their passwords safe or are they using the same password for everything.
- Can they identify a Pfishing email from a legitimate one
How do we get the message across to people
I have done some of my own personal research lately and when talking to people – they will all agree that too many of their passwords are the same. Their key accounts like Google, Facebook and Apple ID share the same password as many other less secure sites, leaving them exposed to hackers. It all seems too daunting to people to change their passwords and to have to remember many different passwords so teaching them how to use a secure password manager can be a big benefit to them. It’s the practical steps to making people secure that will help them both in the short and long term.
This needs to be done now – before the disaster hits!
Take steps to inform your staff and keep both them and your organisation safe from malware, ransomware and loss of data through exposure and do it soon!
For more information or to arrange a course for your staff on the practical aspects of home cyber security, contact me.