Seven cyber hygiene best practices to implement now
Keep your data and networks safe with these cyber hygiene best practices
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Cyber security can be complex and with an evolving threat landscape it can be difficult to work out how to reduce the risk of a cyber-attack.
Basic cyber hygiene is critical if you want to prevent threat actors breaching your organization’s network.
Here are seven cyber hygiene best practices you must make sure your organization is carrying out in order to ensure the safe handling of your critical data and network security.
Passwords and MFA
Ensure employees are up to date on how to a strong password. Use a password management tool and implement multifactor authentication (MFA). A full access management program should ensure your business is protected against compromised user credentials and weakened passwords.
Network firewalls
Secure the traffic moving through your network by implementing a network firewall. Try and make sure you have a firewall that is not only monitors what is going in and out of your network, but also one that can inspect the content of incoming information packets. An up-to-date firewall will offer a barrier to malware and other nefarious incoming traffic.
Data backup
If breached you want to be able to recover your data so make sure you have sufficient a sufficient back up program in place. Today’s cyber security industry is moving towards isolated network backups thought the creation of an “air gap” between the network and the backup network.
Penetration testing
Use regular penetration testing (pen testing) to identify vulnerabilities within your network. During a pen test expect to discover any misconfigurations within your network that may leave you exposed. Pen testing was one of the major pieces of advice for those affected by the Log4J vulnerability in early 2022.
Web application scanning
Safeguard your organization against security gaps in your web applications by using software to crawl your website for vulnerabilities within web applications.
Practice your incident response plan
If, unfortunately, your defenses do not hold up to the lates cyber threats and you experience a breach make sure you and your organization knows what to do.
Employee engagement in cyber security
Ensure your employees are trained on how to spot and avoid social engineering attacks such as phishing emails. Regular tests can be a great too by sending out false phishing emails, staff who click on the links can then be given enhanced training. The faster you are to react the easier it is to contain a breach.
