In 2017, security threats ranged from small attacks to giant security breaches. The way organizations handled these breaches can teach us a lot about cybersecurity. Today, we’re going to discuss security lessons that you may not have even noticed this past year.
Lesson One: Track Your Data
Individuals lost track of countless data when the Yahoo and Equifax data breach happened. Even some of the largest companies in the world can be affected by data breaches and security threats, which should mean that much smaller companies should be on high alert. If you don’t pay close attention to your security, bad things can happen, and sometimes you won’t know for months.
If a giant company like Yahoo can be affected, this goes to show that your small or midsize business should be just as — if not more worried about security. You should be taking as many security measures as you possibly can.
Lesson Two: Patches Are Extremely Important
In order to prevent data breaches, you should always be on the lookout for security updates and patches. Developers implement patches when there is a hole in their solutions that could put you at risk. This lesson also goes for developers, because they should put patches out more often so that businesses are no longer affected as we saw in 2017.
If the developer slacks and does not send out a patch, any of their users can be affected by breaches in the meantime. They need to be more vigilant so multiple users of theirs don’t see breaches while they could have been fixed. One example is the EternalBlue exploit which was not patched until a month after. This exploit was used by WannaCry and NotPetya to cause breaches for individuals and organizations.
If you see that a patch was released, we encourage you to apply it as soon as you can. You should also have a regular patching schedule so that you never miss any. The longer you wait, the more time there is for a cybersecurity issue to appear. Waiting too long will also lead to you becoming affected by the bugs that the patch is wanting to fix.
Lesson Three: So Many Ways for Data Theft
Don’t let your guard down. It has been found by Cisco that email and account hacks have become more profitable than ransomware hacks have. The Federal Bureau of Investigation estimated that businesses lost over $5 billion to these types of attacks this year. Your business should always be on the lookout for security threats and your team should know what to look for so they don’t fall prey to any hacks in their inboxes. MyTek can help your business by showing you the security solutions we offer and helping your team learn with security training. Reach out today to learn more. Call us at 623-312-2440.