NATIONAL CYBER SECURITY AWARENESS MONTH

 

Did you know that small businesses are the easiest and most targeted group for cyber crimes? The statistics are astounding: 61% of all cyber-attacks and data breaches are aimed towards small businesses with less than 1,000 employees! Not only have hacks increased in frequency, but the impact on SMBs is getting bigger and bigger. Luckily, October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, and Microsoft as well as other large security solution providers have made it their mission to educate their clients and other small business owners on Cyber-Safety.

“National Cyber Security Awareness Month” is led by the National Cyber Security Alliance and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and we made it our theme for this month’s Tech Tips as well!
Read the following tips carefully, as they could save your business from costly data breaches and cybercrimes!

  1. BE MINDFUL ABOUT YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE.
    Set and adjust the privacy and security settings on websites so that you feel comfortable with the information that’s being shared. It’s perfectly fine to limit how and with whom you want to share information!
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  2. BE MINDFUL ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION.
    Information about yourself, such as your location or your purchases you made in the last 3 months, are very valuable. Make sure you are aware of how your personal information is being shared across the web and how it’s collected by different websites and applications.
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  3. BE MINDFUL ABOUT SHARING CONTENT.
    Think before posting a picture or status update of yourself and others on the internet. Considers first what that post reveals, who can see it, and how it can impact everyone linked to it now, as well as in the future.
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  4. BE MINDFUL ABOUT KEEPING YOUR DEVICES UP-TO-DATE.
    Make sure to never let your devices that you use to connect to the internet fall behind on software updates! By frequently updating the software, you reduce the risk of being affected by malware.
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  5. BE MINDFUL OF YOUR LOG-IN HABITS. 
    If you have the ability, you should consider using two-step verification/authentication to provide additional security for your information. This can use anything from biometrics such as fingerprint or readers or iris scanners to text messages with a code or token.