Another Day, Another Cybersecurity Breach
April 7, 2015
by Steven J. Ryder
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With an estimated 82,000 variations of viruses and malware released every day by hackers, how can you keep your client data secure? There is no room for complacency when it comes to the security of your client data, yet it is easy to become apathetic when nearly every day another cybersecurity breach is reported. Here are a few guidelines to protect your network.
Is it worth the money to keep up with the onslaught of attacks? Assuming that your practice is too small to be a victim of a massive fraud is a common tactic called “security by obscurity.” This provides a false sense of protection from hackers, as random computer-generated malware does not care much about the size of a company.
There are, however, affordable and basic things each company can and should do to protect themselves.
Companies must have a business-class firewall to protect their network, one that has higher-level security services than what you would buy at a local office superstore. Ask your technology consultant for what they would suggest; they are well worth the investment. Each device (desktop, laptop and tablet computer) must have anti-virus and anti-malware installed to help curb the download and installation of malicious software. I often find clients with either nothing installed or outdated software.
Training is also a key component of cybersecurity. As many as one-third of all computers worldwide are infected with malware and viruses. It is critical to train and educate employees on what to look for and how to avoid being part of this statistic. Additionally, there are so many new strains of malware that can get through before virus definitions are updated to recognize them, so an educated computer user is often the last line of defense. Ensuring that employees are aware of what links and attachments not to click is a great defense strategy.
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