Cybersecurity: Keep your data secure this Christmas

‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas’ for cybercriminals as the festivities are fast approaching. Businesses up and down the country will be winding down to the holidays, with offices closing or running with heavily reduced staff. All this means that Christmas can be the most vulnerable time of the year regarding your cyber security. 

Does your current security strategy include a plan for cyber-attacks during the holidays? Read on for five things you can do now to protect your business’ data over the festive period.

Password Security

Think you have secure passwords? Think again. 90% of all passwords can be hacked in less than six hours. For an efficient way to quickly secure your business data, run an audit on all admin passwords for critical networks, servers and applications. All passwords should be as hard to crack as possible, alpha-numeric, containing special characters and including upper and lower case letters. Make sure that you amend settings to make your passwords unreadable. Even better is to set up SSH Keys on your servers. SSH keys provide a more secure way of logging into a server than using a password alone, and they are nearly impossible for cybercriminals to decipher.

Update your antivirus software 

Ensure that all company computers and laptops are updated with the latest antivirus and anti-malware protection. The antivirus updates contain the latest files needed to combat new viruses and protect your data. With admin permissions, you can push updates throughout the network. Alternatively, you can ask all employees to run auto-updates on all programmes. Your IT or MSP provider can check that your security applications are up to date but don’t forget to ask them for firmware versions running on firewalls and server platforms – these all need to be on the latest patch. Ensure that you back up your data and that your backup is working as intended.

Employee email security awareness

Which employees are on the naughty list? Email security awareness is vital around Christmas, scams are more prevalent around this time of year, and employees are more likely to drop their guard on the ‘wind down’. Malicious emails are typically phishing ones that attempt to dupe you into sharing sensitive information. Be suspicious of any email that looks strange from well-known sources and unknown ones. Please don’t open any attachments or click any links if in any doubt. Immediately delete the email and send it to your administrator to investigate. 

 Audit your firewall policies

Firewalls are not for hanging stockings on; that’s fireplaces! A firewall is the first defence for preventing unauthorized access to your online information. Make sure that your firewall has minimal legacy or unused configurations. These dodgy connections could be impeding your firewall’s effectiveness. This work can be complicated but is worth doing to ensure optimum protection for your data. 

Invest in IT security

Smaller businesses might hesitate to invest in good quality cybersecurity. However, that decision could save companies from the eyewatering financial and legal costs resulting from a data breach. Outsourcing to a company specializing in cyber security is much more budget-friendly. Ensuring that customers are protected and secure is one of the highest priorities for SoConnect. We will explore cybersecurity with you during our IT Risk Management planning, helping to clarify any potential risks in your IT security. We’re equipped with the latest technology to allow us to monitor your IT systems and hardware security 24/7/365, allowing our team to act fast if an issue is identified.

Don’t let the Cyber Grinch steal your data this Christmas: we’re serious about keeping you safe when it comes to security.

To find out more about our cybersecurity packages, click here, call our team on 0333 240 1824 or email us at sales@soconnect.co.uk.