Ten Tips to Protect Businesses and Individuals from Cyber Attacks

Ten Tips to Help Protect Businesses and Individuals from Cyber Attacks

Cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated. In light of the recent cyber attacks such as WannaCry and the NHS hacking, here at Advance Computer Systems we’ve found that both businesses and individuals are becoming ever more concerned about how to keep their devices secure.

Fortunately, the risk of being infected can be significantly reduced by following a few computer security steps. With this in mind, we thought it would be a good time to highlight our top 10 tips to help our customers better protect themselves from cyber attacks.

1.Install anti-virus, firewalls and web filtering

Ideally, preventing ransomware entering your business or personal computer in the first place is the best security approach. This can be done through what’s known as the ‘layering approach’ by implementing anti-virus, firewalls and web filtering. It’s crucial that you make sure each component is properly configured and also up-to-date. These scanning solutions include a range of operations to re-write links and verify safety when clicked on to help avoid cyber attacks.

2.Keep your software up-to-date

Malware can often infect a business or personal computer by entering through bugs in your software and applications. This means it’s really important that you update your software as soon as it becomes available. For instance, it’s believed that ‘WannaCry’ infects by exploiting a Windows issue that Microsoft had issued a patch for back in March, but unfortunately many businesses hadn’t administered it and were breached.

3.Backup regularly

If you’ve maintained a good routine of regularly backing up your data then although you won’t be able to access your live data, your backup will be unaffected. This is highly important because your data can then quickly be restored once your devices have been cleared of any infection. This is particularly essential for businesses. It ensures you’ll be back up and running a lot faster, with little data and time lost. Read more here

4.Keep your computer users well trained

The most common tactic used for cyber attacks is that of emails which include malicious links. Whoever has access to your computers, whether at home or at your workplace needs to be reminded of the potential hazards. Some tell-tale signs to look out for are:
• Emails that claim to be from reputable companies or organisations, sent from a look-a-like of their authentic email address. Look for the little changes like a 0 replaced with an O.
• Communication from companies or organisations on topics that arrive out of the blue, those not previously discussed.
• Poor text quality such as grammatical and spelling errors often indicate a fraudulent email. That being said, it’s worth noting that cybercriminals are addressing this matter!
Another point to keep in mind as well is that emails received from your legitimate contacts can pose a problem if they’ve been hacked. Look out for short nonsensical messages with a (malicious) link.

5.Look out for spear-fishing

This is a growing method used for a cyber attacks. It’s where the cybercriminal poses as an official requesting a specific action from you. For example the ‘CEO’ of a company. Also these types of emails often claim to come from official organisations such as banks, government departments or even the police.

6.Validate security policies

We always advise our business customers to create and also record in writing formal protection polices and processes in consultation with their IT department, who can then apply these policy requirements to every device.

7.Have a robust password and multi-factor authentication policy

Although an obvious point, having a robust password makes it harder for cybercriminals to infiltrate your business or personal computers. From a business point of view, many have still not addressed their password protocols, and thereby allow their employees to set up weak and ineffective passwords. If you make it a requirement to use ‘strong’ and unique passwords for each account, it helps to reduce the risks. Also implementing multi-factor authentication, which means access is gained only through successful submission of numerous pieces of information, in addition to password control. This can be through ways such as requiring a numerical code text to a mobile device.

8.Personalise your anti-spam settings

Malware can be activated through an attachment. Webmail servers however, can be configured to block suspicious attachments. It does this by identifying their extension type, such as exe, vbs, or scr.

9.Block pop-ups, disallow data transfer and disable macros

Malware is increasingly being spread by inviting people to download macros incorporated inside every-day type documents. For businesses, by having a robust policy which defines download privileges and rights per employees, it can help to provide further protection from cyber attacks across your company.

10.Switch off immediately if you detect suspicious activity

Lastly, if you suspect an attack, always quickly disconnect from the web. By doing this at an early stage, you can prevent the malware establishing itself. It will also prevent ransomware spreading to other areas of your company or any other computers.

We hope the above information has been informative and will help safeguard your business or personal computers. If you need any further information, or would like to find out more about what anti-virus options we can provide at Advance Computer Systems, click here or call us today on 01904 691 311.