Here you will learn about cybersecurity best practices. To know more, you need to read the complete article till to end. Cybersecurity deals with the safeguarding of an individual or organization’s data. This cuts across all kinds of businesses, whether large or small, a sole individual or a collection of individuals. When cybersecurity is in place, it will ensure your servers, computers, mobile devices, networks, IoT devices, and much more are protected from your most common malicious attacks.
More and more companies have become conscious of their company security needs to ensure they do not fall prey to a data breach. Cyber-attacks can occur from anywhere, whether from within the company itself or via external sources. All you have to worry about is how secure your data is. You also want to know how to identify threats before they escalate to something more severe properly. Prevention, as always, is much better than the cure. For this reason, you should look to improve your cybersecurity policies. Below you will find 7 best practices for cybersecurity.
Table of Contents
Top 7 Cybersecurity Best Practices
1. Backup Your System and Data Regularly
Any backup carried out should be done on a routine basis. Regularly backing up your most important systems and data is one of cybersecurity’s most important best practices. Business critical systems should have their data backed up first. Essentially, priority should be determined by the importance of the device and the data it carries. You want all your backups to be stored in a remote location. You also want it to be encrypted and have varying retention spans.
Your backups should be kept isolated, separate from your existing network system, which prevents them from being compromised in the event of a ransomware attack. Most ransomware attacks nowadays specifically target backups. So you want to ensure your data is isolated, as this will allow you to restore everything if you fall victim to one of these attacks, and all your primary data is encrypted.
Another crucial aspect of disaster recovery is that every backup created is regularly tested. You need to ensure that your backups work, as you do not want the time of the disaster to be the actual time you attempt to use your backups for the first time. Your backups should be scheduled, planned, and tested to ensure they work. You also want documentation on the process and procedure of your backup process.
There are many tools and services that you can invest in that will help you design and implement your disaster recovery solution, along with providing you with the necessary security. All of which are designed to keep your data safe and protected.
2. Use Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication was introduced to provide an additional layer of protection or security to data or a specific service, making it increasingly more difficult for hackers to access.
Even if a hacker could acquire your password, they would still need to get past the second or third factor of authentication, which could be a fingerprint, security code, voice recognition, passcode, and more. It provides you with an advanced security protocol that you can use to protect your data. It also increases your level of control over all your different accounts. It is involved in Cybersecurity best practices.
3. Mitigate Cyber Attacks through Preventative Measures
To begin with, any business should have in place preventative measures which should prevent any cyberattacks. Using resources and the correct mitigation tools, you can minimize any initial compromise, thus decreasing the chance that any attack will disrupt business operations or pose any significant threat to your organization.
Since the pandemic, there has been a substantial increase in attacks on small and large companies. But especially on individuals and remote workers.
If you are unaware of your current cyber maturity level, you should devise your cyber assessment and need to use cybersecurity best practices. When properly put together, an assessment should help you determine your biggest risks. Then, let you know where you should focus your investments and efforts—giving you pointers on strengthening your devices and cyber maturity.
4. Update Your Security Software
You want your web server, security software, and operating system updated with the latest security patches. Antimalware, antivirus, and antispyware tools are constantly updated with new security patches and definitions to keep them relevant in the fight against security threats. You must update your security software on all your devices and network systems so that you have a line of defense against the latest viruses and malicious threats.
5. Monitor Third-Party Controls
One of the most important aspects of security strategy is controlling your third-party access. Any third-party individual could have total access to your data, heightening the risk and increasing the chances of an insider attack. It is very important to monitor any third-party action, to protect yourself from potential data breaches. All third-party access should also be restricted to specific areas and instructed to deactivate their access after they have finished whatever they’re doing.
6. Monitor Your Privileged Users
Your privileged users can be one of the biggest threats to your data security while, at the same time, posing as your greatest asset. Any privileged user has the access and chance to corrupt any company data. No matter what kind of trust you may have for your employees. You must factor in the unknown, that anything can and could happen. So, have privileged users, but limit their numbers, and make sure your privileged users deactivate their access right after they have finished their task.
As previously noted, you should have your monitoring solution in place for best practice. Such individuals will be tasked with monitoring and recording any access and user access while on company networks.
7. Implement Cybersecurity Training
Regarding cybersecurity best practices, you should establish cybersecurity awareness workshops, which will be used to train your staff regularly. It will help curtail many potential cyberattacks, as many attacks result from human error. Educating your workforce mitigates this issue.
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Author Bio
Uchenna Ani-Okoye is a former IT Manager who now runs his own computer support website https://www.compuchenna.co.uk.