Judgment Day: How to Protect Your Company from Cyber Criminals
Technology is an integral part of many aspects of life, from business to schooling. Businesses especially rely on technology to better meet the needs of customers, manufacture products, track inventory, and other necessary functions. Before computers, criminals obviously couldn’t commit crime through technology. Nowadays, criminals often use computers to commit crime, foregoing victims identifying who they are, running risks of getting pulled over by police, and risking their safety.
Businesses are commonly targeted by criminals because they are usually larger than individuals and families, yielding more rewards than shooting for people. Every business is susceptible to cybercrime, whether only one device is used or every function relies on the utilization of technology. Here are several ways to protect your company from cybercrime, regardless of what field it operates in.
Encrypt Hard Drives and Data Transmissions
Encryption converts data into cipher text, information that is converted back into meaningful information upon decryption. This technology works by business employees using a password to encrypt information using an encryption program. Regular text is turned into cipher text, then sent to others using regular communication like emails or instant messages. Recipients have the same password as senders, and use it to decrypt the message. Only people with passwords can decrypt information, so it’s a good idea to never write passwords down on paper and change them weekly.
Hard drives containing business-related information can be encrypted as well. Only employees with passwords can unlock such computers. It’s advisable to utilize two-factor authentication in which only people with passwords and another password, usually sent to employees’ mobile phones or email addresses.
Make Employees Aware of Common Forms of Cyber-Crime
Because the most effective form of cyber-crime protection is prevention. Employees should always be aware of ways that cyber criminals target organizations. Some criminals leave USB drives in parking lots of business locations, leaving some curious employees to plug them into computers to check their contents. Upon plugging the USB drives in, they release a harmful computer virus that mines information from computers they infect.
Similar to this USB drive cyber-crime, others attempts at crime don’t seem to be malicious upon first glance. As such, employees expose the businesses they work for to problems without knowing so. Make sure to regularly inform employees of cyber-crimes and quiz them on current crime possibilities.
Require Employees to Have an Identification
As touched upon earlier, two-factor authentication helps secure computer programs. Consider implementing a system at work in which computer users must swipe an identification card with RFID technology along with a password. This will help prevent unauthorized users from logging on anywhere. Make it so employees must have both of these and this requirement cannot be overridden at any time. Risk assessment reports can provide companies the possibilities of computers being broken into, and can easily be found on the Internet.
Don’t Use Easy Passwords
Many people and businesses alike use simple passwords to “protect” their accounts and computers. However, using these passwords don’t actually safeguard any information, as hackers can gain access by simply guessing a few password. An astounding seventeen percent of accounts online use the password 123456. Five of the top seven passwords include variations of sequential numbers ranging 1 through 10. It’s important to utilize passwords that aren’t easy to guess.
Cyber criminals often attack businesses because they have more to offer than personal computer users. Companies should always utilize top security protocol to prevent criminals form harming their welfare. No matter whether you feel your business is secure or not, taking preventative measures is the only way to block them out.
