October is CyberSecurity Awareness Month, which reminds us to be aware that companies cannot afford to ignore cybersecurity. Hacks and data breaches regularly affect companies of all sizes. These incidents are often significant enough to make the front pages, causing reputational damage to the companies involved.
For instance, the City of Bakersfield, California recently discovered a breach that could affect certain users of a third-party system the city uses to process certain online payments. And on the other side of the country, Lee County in Florida suffered a breach to their website, which affected services like bill paying and applying for permits.
To help prevent a cybersecurity attack like these, we have five suggestions:
- Keep Informed: Cybersecurity is something that everyone needs to consider. A good percentage of incidents are caused by those ignoring mainstream advice including clicking on suspicious websites and maintaining secure passwords.
- Move Beyond AntiVirus: Antivirus is still an important part of your Cybersecurity plan, but not enough to completely secure your data.
- Get Insured: Cybersecurity insurance isn’t only about prevention, but also about limiting and handling damage.
- Take the Flow of your Data Seriously: With some simple thought, it’s relatively easy to eliminate weak spots in processes that could expose data, cause a breach, or simply make life easier for hackers than it needs to be.
- Think About Backup and Recovery: A company is hit by ransomware every 40 seconds, but if a company has their system backed up, and it’s backed up effectively, then there is no need to pay a ransom any money.
Cybersecurity is critical for your company to maintain. We encourage you to invest approximately 20 minutes of your time to take this 90-question assessment. At the end of the assessment, you’ll receive a score that will help determine just how safe you are: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/chr-security
