Table of Contents
TL;DR: Cyberattacks are a growing threat. Protect your sensitive information and maintain online security with these 10 actionable steps:
- Understand current cybersecurity risks.
- Strengthen passwords.
- Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Regularly update and patch systems.
- Regularly back up data.
- Secure home and office networks.
- Use encrypted communication tools.
- Develop a cyber incident response plan.
- Understand legal and regulatory obligations.
- Educate yourself and your team on cybersecurity best practices.
The threat of cyberattacks looms larger than ever, affecting individuals and organizations alike. With cyber criminals constantly evolving their tactics, staying one step ahead is crucial for protecting sensitive information and maintaining online security.
These 10 straightforward, actionable steps can help enhance your cybersecurity preparedness. From strengthening passwords to understanding legal obligations, these measures are the first line of defense to safeguard against cyber threats.
Building a Foundation to Prevent Cyberattacks
When it comes to protecting against cyberattacks, there is a difference between doing the minimum required and taking comprehensive measures. The minimum approach involves implementing basic security and following cybersecurity best practices.
These measures are crucial and provide a fundamental layer of protection. However, they are not enough to prevent sophisticated cyber threats. Consider these steps the foundation for your cybersecurity strategy and invest in more comprehensive measures to best protect yourself from ever-evolving cyber threats.
1. Understand the Risks
The experts at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) emphasize that preventing cyberattacks or mitigating the spread of an attack as quickly as possible is the best way to ensure bad actors lose their power.
This is why it’s important to not only prevent but also to be prepared for cyberattacks. That starts with understanding the current threat landscape.
CISA is just one resource to stay up to date on the latest cybersecurity risks, attacks, and vulnerabilities. It is also important to be aware of the most prevalent cyber threats such as:
- Phishing: This type of attack often involves emails, text messages, or websites designed to look legitimate. Cybercriminals use these tactics to trick individuals into providing personal information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details. There are also more advanced phishing methods such as whaling, vishing, and spear phishing.
- Malware: Malicious software encompasses a variety of harmful software, including viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, and more. These malicious programs can disrupt operations by stealing data and damaging systems. Ransomware is one of the most common types of malware that encrypts a victim's files, rendering them inaccessible.
- Insider Threats: These occur when current or former employees, contractors, or business associates misuse their access to compromise sensitive information. This can happen intentionally or accidentally but is dangerous and costly regardless of intent.
2. Strengthen Your Passwords
CISA also highlights the importance of implementing strong passwords. This is one of the best ways to protect your data and personal information from unauthorized access. However, passwords must be complex and confidential to be effective.
Follow password best practices, which include:
- Length between 8 and 64 characters
- Use of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters
- Avoid personal information (names, dates, locations)
- Use a password manager program to keep track of passwords
- Use different passwords for different systems
More comprehensive strategies to protect your business include security measures to prevent password attacks. A Zero Trust strategy utilizing Allowlisting and Ringfencing™ can exponentially reduce the surface area of a password attack.
3. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
On the topic of password protection, enabling MFA is often the next step to prevent cyberattacks caused by compromised credentials.
NIST defines multi-factor authentication as, “An authentication system that requires more than one distinct authentication factor for successful authentication.” Authentication factors include something you know, like a password, something you have, like a token, or something you are, which is biometric. Passwords and tokens are most commonly used together.
4. Update and Patch Your Systems Regularly
Bad actors are constantly seeking out vulnerabilities in systems to gain access. An unpatched vulnerability can be extremely dangerous for your business. That is why regularly updating and patching your systems is one of the most effective ways to prevent cyberattacks.
Software updates and patches include fixes for security vulnerabilities that have been discovered since the last version was released. It ensures your system is not exposed to known exploits, effectively stopping cyberattacks in their tracks.
Be proactive about software maintenance by setting up automatic updates. This ensures you are always operating on the latest, most secure software.
5. Regularly Back Up Your Data
A robust data backup strategy can help to prepare for a cyberattack. In the event an attack occurs, and your data is held for ransom, manipulated, or deleted altogether, you can recover your information.
These measures mitigate the impact of cyberattacks and significantly reduce downtime and financial loss associated with data breaches.
It is recommended that you use two different storage types. Leverage cloud and physical backup solutions to ensure that data is backed up consistently and multiple copies are available.
6. Secure Your Home and Office Networks
Network security is another foundational measure to prevent cyberattacks. Though much of the emphasis on network security is focused on office networks, it is also important to prepare for cyberattacks at home offices.
Forbes reports that by 2025, 32.6 million Americans will work remotely. Between fully remote and hybrid employees, it is more important than ever before for organizations to secure networks beyond the walls of their offices.
This starts with measures such as MFA, but also extends to endpoint firewalls and encryption methods. Protecting WiFi networks is another concern. WiFi Pineapple attacks are a possibility when workers connect to unsecured public networks. It’s important to educate employees on these types of attacks and protect your IT environment by preventing unauthorized devices from accessing them.
7. Use Secure and Encrypted Communication Tools
Along with these methods, encryption is also key to preventing cyberattacks. IBM defines encryption as, “the process of transforming readable plaintext into unreadable ciphertext to mask sensitive information from unauthorized users.”
Encryption is used to protect data from unauthorized access and data breaches. Only parties with the decryption key can unscramble the data.
Organizations should also prioritize other secure communication tools, such as VPNs and secure connection protocols. Admin controls can also be used to prevent unauthorized access without hindering productivity.
8. Develop a Cyber Incident Response Plan
Cybersecurity threats are always evolving to the point where it’s not if you become a victim of a cyberattack, but when.
Another way to prepare for a cyberattack to mitigate its effect is to create an Incident Response Plan (IRP). CISA explains that this document is used to help organizations before, during, and after a confirmed or suspected cyber security incident.
An IRP provides guidance on who should be doing what at each of these stages. This puts measures in place to prevent cyberattacks and be prepared to respond if one could occur. A detailed plan helps to quickly respond and mitigate attacks to minimize business interruptions.
9. Understand Your Legal and Regulatory Obligations
Always keep in mind the legal and regulatory obligations your organization must adhere to when it comes to cybersecurity. Cybersecurity compliance with federal regulations surrounding data protection and privacy is the minimum to protect yourself from cyberattacks. Following these obligations helps keep data secure and protects against fines for noncompliance.
There are baseline standards to follow, but also more specific regulations for different industries. Going above and beyond these measures can also better position your organization by:
- Maintaining customer trust
- Protecting brand reputation
- Building customer loyalty
- Improving security posture
Cybersecurity compliance is more than just a checklist. It is one of the best ways to protect against cyberattacks and ensure business continuity even in the face of uncertainty.
10. Educate Yourself and Your Team
Finally, it is always important to educate your team on cybersecurity best practices and evolving threats. Your people are your best asset to prevent cyberattacks. Conducting regular cybersecurity training ensures your team is ready to identify and stop threats before they become larger problems.
As Forbes recently reported, this training is critical for improving an organization’s security posture. Oftentimes, this training is required under HIPAA and SOC 2. But regardless of industry, annual training can help you stay one step ahead of cyberattacks.
Preventing and Preparing for Cyberattacks
Whether at home or in the office, follow these steps to fortify your defenses and ensure peace of mind in the digital realm. These are the minimum actions to help prevent cyberattacks and serve as the foundation for more complex measures.
Further fortify your cybersecurity posture with advanced threat detection systems, continuous monitoring, and more solutions that take a Zero Trust approach. By understanding the importance of combining basic and comprehensive strategies, organizations can better safeguard their digital assets.
A layered approach to cybersecurity mitigates the risk of cyber incidents and ensures resilience and continuity in the face of ever-evolving threats. Safeguard your organization with a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity with help from ThreatLocker. Start your free trial today.
