TechTuesdays – Security is no laughing matter
This old clip from the Ellen Show is funny but sadly true. Someone was selling a book, re-branded as a place to store passwords. The company, which shall remain nameless, created the infomercial before actually creating a product to gauge consumer interest. Consumers were interested alright, interested in laughing.
Remembering passwords in our lives has become a tedious process. From bank accounts and online shopping sites to our email and social network logins, the task has become daunting. Life would be simple if we could use the same password for all our accounts but with data breaches like the one at Yahoo, having the same password or even security questions for accounts can be disastrous.
For personal passwords, apps like LastPass can be used to securely store your logins and passwords. The app even has a corporate edition which we have implemented for a client that wanted to share specific logins to their entire team. Lastpass has the ability to store personal passwords along with your “company” passwords. In addition, Lastpass supports multi-factor authentication (MFA) which grants users access to accounts only after providing several pieces of evidence such as a login and a code sent via text to their cellphone. In addition to Google and Microsoft, banking and credit card sites support MFA and the list grows daily. If your sites offer it, use it. It may prevent someone from accessing your accounts.
Security is also a major concern for businesses. In a survey released by KPMG covered in an Inc Magazine article, “A whopping 50%–half the CEOs polled–indicated that their firms are either not prepared, or only partially prepared, to deal with a major cyber event.” While the CEOs polled were from companies with at least $500M in revenue, it is clear that cyber-security is a pressing issue in 2016 for businesses as well.
If you run a business with less than $500M in revenue, a cyber breach may be more devastating than to a larger firm. It may result in the loss of revenue, reputation or worse, customers. Security in business is everyone’s concern and cyber-security is no different. Companies need to adopt polices and procedures to ensure that all employees are aware of best practices to minimize the threat posed by hackers and competitors looking to do harm.
Below is a partial list (created by by Joseph Steinberg CEO, SecureMySocial) that provides tips on securing your company from cyber attacks. For the complete list, please click here
Enjoy,
Lonnie
CyberSafety Tips
- – Ensure awareness – help employees understand that they are targets
- – Offer basic information-security training
- – Backup Often
- – Encrypt – especially laptops
- – Use a proper password policy
- – Devise, implement, and enforce social media policies
- – Address personal device risks