Baseball and Cybersecurity? How 5 Simple Tasks Can Help Minimize a Cyberattack.

Recently in speaking with someone at a social gathering I got asked a very common question that all of us most likely encounter on a routine basis, “so what is it that you do?” Without hesitation and with a little arrogance/pride in my voice I responded that I work for a large technology company where I help businesses of all sizes assess and mitigate their cybersecurity risks. As the person stared at me blankly, I’m assuming because they were not nearly as impressed with this response as I was, it occurred to me that even though cybersecurity is a word that has been mainstream in the tech world for nearly 30 years it is not a very well understood topic to the public.

As I quickly pivoted the conversation with “so how about those Cubs on opening day?” as to not be known as the tech geek at the event, it got me thinking about the general misunderstandings there is around cybersecurity. Most people have a general knowledge of the concept of cybersecurity, however if you do not work in the tech world you may not realize how big of an impact it has on your daily life and how you can help protect yourself from a cyberattack.

So, to gain a better understanding of what cybersecurity is and how to mitigate your cyber risk, lets start at the beginning. According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) cybersecurity is defined as the art of protecting networks, devices, and data from unauthorized access or criminal use and the practice of ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information. With the overwhelming majority of our world running on the internet you can see from this definition how the importance of cybersecurity just got a whole lot more interesting.

I would be willing to bet that a large majority of you came across this article while scrolling on your phone. Let’s say for a simple example that I was able to gain access to the password you use to unlock your phone. Once in would I be able to get further access to many kinds of sensitive information through your document’s library, photos, email account, home location through your maps, credit card saved in your digital wallet, or even something more terrifying like your Amazon account? Sensitive information sits in the palm of your hand and without the appropriate cybersecurity measures in place all your personal and/or business data could be at risk.

Now this is the part of the article where I have either accomplished my goal of gaining your attention, or I have completely lost you by sounding like a crazy cyberstalking Cubs’ fan who is going to steal your identity. If you are the interested party we are getting to the best part of the article, if you are the latter please don’t put #cyberstalker in the comments section.

Gartner insight estimated that businesses spent more that $123 billion on security in 2020 and predict that figure will grow to over $170 billion by the end of 2022. While this dollar amount sounds too large to wrap your brain around it is not surprising to most in the industry as the average cost in 2021 of a data breach was up 10% to a whopping US$4.24 million. The good news in all of this is there are simple steps you can take to protect yourself and your company from a cyberattack.

The 5 best practices below may be some of the most important security functions you implement into your business this year:

1)      Use strong passwords. Choosing passwords that are difficult for attackers to guess can be the first line of defense in cybersecurity. While this may sound extremely simple having a password that is both strong and unique for each application that requires a password for entry will make it harder for threat actors to enter your devices and get multiple kinds of unique information. While we all like to keep our passwords simple for memory we are exposing ourselves to easy attack when our best line of defense is Password123 or Fido2020.

2)      Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA). Having to authenticate a password gives you a second line of defense in protecting your data. If your password is compromised the MFA will notify you that you need to manually approve a login to said breached account. If you are sitting on your couch at 8pm on a Friday watching a movie and your phone pings looking for a MFA verification, it is most likely an attacker trying to breach your data and you can shut it down before any access is granted or data is lost.

3)      Keep your software up to date. Installing software patches on a routine basis will help prevent attackers from taking advantage of known problems or vulnerabilities. Many operating systems even have a functionality that can be enabled to run automatic updates. In addition, running an up-to-date antivirus software can be an important measure against known malicious threats. These software’s can detect, quarantine, and remove various types of malwares.

4)      Install a firewall. Firewalls can be your behind-the-scenes line of defense to prevent malicious traffic from entering your system. Some devices operating systems already have installed firewalls you can enable and tune without having to add extra features.

5)      Be cautious when opening any outside emails. Phishing emails, or malicious intent messages, can pop up in your inbox looking like an important message when really, they are embedded with viruses. While a good majority of phishing campaigns will be caught with a properly tuned firewall threat actors are getting better at making these emails look legitimate or enticing for you to open. If you see an email that looks suspicious be sure to avoid clicking any links and report the messaging to your IT department immediately.

Now that you have the top cybersecurity secrets you are all set to protect your network from attackers, right? If only it was that simple. While these 5 practices are imperative to keeping your data safe, your line of defense against a cyberattack should not stop there. Implementing routine security analyses and penetration tests will let you know if the precautions you are running are really keeping you safe.

Not sure where to get started or how to ensure that you have the 5 steps above mastered? The next best step is to work with a well-established cybersecurity company to do a custom review of your network security that will provide remediation and consultations on how to ramp up your security to mitigate your open cyber risk. The best part of this whole article is I know exactly who you should speak to about getting this practice started, LRS IT Solutions. Uniquely LRS has created a method to provide a full network review, remediation guide, and long-term consultative approach to keeping your business out of the danger zone of cybercrime.

Cybersecurity may still not be your favorite topic to talk about at your next social gathering or be brought up in casual conversation while watching your baseball team of choice, however this hopefully gave you a little more insight into the importance of having a cybersecurity plan in place. I encourage you to reach out to a consultant today, preferably me and the extremely talented LRS IT Solutions team, and get your plan in place now for protecting your data in 2022.