Cybersecurity is a shared responsibility. Here are ten tips you should be aware of to reduce your risk of becoming a victim of cyberthreats.

Cybersecurity safety tip 1:

No one is immune to cyberattacks

Regardless of an organization’s size or the industry, everyone is now a target of cybercriminals. Cybercriminals are no longer just targeting enterprises, they are going after education, municipalities, MSPs, and other organization types.

Cybersecurity safety tip 2:

Cybersecurity is a journey, and not a solution

IT environments are constantly evolving, and the attack vector has grown significantly over the years. There are many potential areas where hackers can penetrate and gain access to the crown jewel – data. Businesses must be vigilant and constantly evaluate their cybersecurity posture to ensure there are no vulnerabilities in their environment.

Cybersecurity safety tip 3:

Humans are the weakest link

According to a study conducted by World Economic Forum, 95% of cybersecurity issues can be traced back to human error. It is very important to ensure that employees are educated with the current cyberattack trends and basic cybersecurity hygiene such as using strong passwords, knowing how to identify phishing scams, and more. Possessing an understanding of how data is gathered and how a digital identity is tracked online can dramatically improve cybersecurity posture.

Cybersecurity safety tip 4:

Apply multilayered security across all attack surfaces

A multilayered approach is the only way forward. Attack surfaces such as applications, cloud, identity, people, endpoints, networks, and systems all need to be protected. Attackers systematically work through these vectors looking for any and every potential exploit to gain access. Account takeover, email compromise, lateral movement, persistent access and many more tactics are implemented to gain further access or ensure access remains open even if the original entry point is patched.

Cybersecurity safety tip 5:

Keep software up to date

The Nation Vulnerability Database holds 8,051 vulnerabilities published in Q1 of 2022. This is about a 25 percent increase from the same period YoT. If these numbers hold, this will mark a slight YoY increase since there were around 22,000 published in 2021.Software vulnerabilities are targeted by attackers for exploitation. It is important to keep your software, operating systems, and 3rd party apps up to date to prevent hackers from exploiting the vulnerability.

Cybersecurity safety tip 6:

Be careful of phishing

Phishing attacks continue to be one of the top tactic cybercriminals use to deploy their attacks. No matter what form of the phish, email, social, web links, SMS – it’s important to ensure users are checking the links carefully before clicking or entering their credentials.

Cybersecurity safety tip 7:

Use multi-factor authentication

The growth of stolen credentials in the dark web has made it important for users to implement an extra authentication requirement for identity verification. Multi-factor authentication is a layered approach to securing data and applications where a system requires a user to present a combination of two or more credentials to verify a user’s identity for login.

Cybersecurity safety tip 8:

Monitor your environment

Continuous monitoring of the network will help in detecting threats early and will reduce response time. Detecting unusual activity can reduce the damage a cyberattack can cause by preventing the threats from spreading to other areas.

Cybersecurity safety tip 9:

Backup your data

It’s no longer ‘if’, but ‘when’ an attack will take place. Ensure data is available and protected by practicing the 3-2-1 backup rule. 3-2-1 backup strategy increases the likelihood of the data being properly duplicated and available for recovery. The approach consists of: • Three copies of the data; this includes the original data and two duplicate versions in case one of the backup options becomes corrupted, lost or stolen. • Two storage types are being used in the event of a failed backup or recovery. • One copy stored away from your home or business in case there’s a disaster that damages or destroys the property.Testing and validating the disaster recovery plan and process is also an important step.

Cybersecurity safety tip 10:

Create incident response plan

An incident response plan helps mitigate the impact of an attack, remediate vulnerabilities, and secure the overall organization in a coordinated manner. It also ensures that organization can utilize manpower, tools, and resources to efficiently tackle the issue and minimize its impact on other operations.