6-Point cyber hygiene checklist for enterprises to prevent data breach

We all know the importance of personal hygiene. Individuals keep their personal hygiene in check by following preventive measures like flossing to maintain tooth health and washing or sanitizing hands to prevent spreading diseases.

Likewise, cyber hygiene ensures your enterprise is protected against treacherous cyber-attacks and threats like malware, data theft, phishing, and more. 

Cyber hygiene is the need of the hour as the work-from-home scenario has opened doors to more targeted, dangerous, and frequent threats than ever. Employees now rely on their home or public network, often using personal devices, as compared to working from secured parameters of the office where firewalls and instantaneous tech support protect devices and networks. This made enterprises more vulnerable to cyber-threats, and the rate of attacks spiraled.

Thus, the question that keeps IT professionals up at night is: how do you ensure good cyber hygiene even during the most uncertain times?

Luckily, the first step towards achieving cyber hygiene is quite simple: maintaining good cyber hygiene practices.

And, to simplify the process for you, we’ve compiled a cyber hygiene checklist that will help you enforce a healthy cyber security regime. So without any further ado, let’s dive in!

6-Point Cyber Hygiene Checklist 

1. Use Multi-factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication involves adding layers of security to verify a user’s identity while logging in or carrying out other transactions. In general, passwords are the first level of authentication, followed by a security token and then a biometric verification, facial or fingerprint recognition. 

The idea is to make it more difficult for anyone to break in and get access by adding multiple security protocols to incorporate identity and access management. 

2. Keep everything up to date

This goes for all your software updates, system upgrades, or essentially any kind of installation your system undergoes. 

Updates are a crucial part of keeping your computer secure. As new vulnerabilities are discovered and fixed, developers issue updates to patch those vulnerabilities, fixing the loopholes. Thus, applying those updated patches as soon as possible is critical. If you don’t install software updates, you’ll be vulnerable to malware that may exploit these vulnerabilities.

Some operating systems like Windows10 offer automatic updates that automatically install themselves when they become available. A safer alternative would be to manually check for updates or install them manually after they become available.

3. Have a data backup and recovery system

Companies produce large volumes of data almost every day. We’re talking consumer data, employee data, or system data - losing any of it can be crippling to a company.

Everything from files, folders, photos, payment data, delivery information, vendor data, customers’ data, account information, interactions, and even data from third-party apps should be backed up on external devices or the cloud.

It helps you prepare for unforeseen circumstances such as theft, system damage or failure, or disasters like floods, or fires.

4. Keep an extra eye on phishing attempts

Phishing attempts can be difficult to spot, especially when they’re well-made. For example, you might receive an email asking you to click on a link or open an attachment that looks legitimate. 

In fact, the email may even come from someone you know who’s been hacked and is being used as part of a phishing attempt. 

Be wary of any requests for personal information, and always check that an email is legitimate before clicking on any links or attachments in it. 

Also, double-check the URL of any sites you visit; if something looks off, don’t trust it!

5. Implement security protocols for VPNs

Mask your device’s IP address with end-to-end encryption using a VPN. You can use the ones that you can install in your systems or connect to them through your web browsers. 

Verifying that your VPN is installed on all your devices is essential. You can have a home router with a built-in VPN that can be used for all your home devices. 

Alternatively, you may also have an app for your smartphone or tablet that provides the same functionality via an encrypted connection to a server hosted by the provider.

6. Keep vulnerability checks in order

While you’re maintaining precautions to prevent mishaps, checking in for loose ends every now and then is a good practice.

Take a deeper look at any red flags your security program might have highlighted, check if they’re positive, determine their severity & impact, and take immediate actions to remediate them. 

Meanwhile, record the meantime it took for you and your team to analyze pieces of forensic data and fix the problem. It helps in knowing how much time you have until attackers break into your system and how you can optimize your processes. 

Best practices while working from home

Now that we’ve seen the checklist, below are some best practices to follow when working remotely. Even after the pandemic cases have subsided, small and large companies are offering great flexibility in working models like remote working or a hybrid working environment to employees. 

Thus, this scenario calls for setting clear goals ahead of time and taking the following preventive measures to protect your enterprise.  

• Use a secure connection. You can use a private network or use your home internet connection. Refrain from using any unsecured public Wi-Fi hotspot.
• Don’t leave devices unattended when they’re plugged into public outlets, especially if those outlets are visible from outside windows or doors. 
• Use a secure network. Keep in mind that this should be done through HTTPS protocol (and not HTTP), and be aware of who all are connecting and what they are accessing using this network.
• Keep your passwords unique and change them periodically. Pick a strong password, use a combination of upper-case letters, lower-case letters, and numbers in different orders for each account, or use any online password-generating tool.
• Have anti-virus software installed to detect any potentially harmful content in your system and upgrade it regularly.

Key Takeaway

Now that you know how to maintain good cyber hygiene, reviewing these tips and deciding which ones you can implement immediately is the best place to start. 

Also, remember that while practicing good cyber hygiene doesn’t necessarily guarantee complete protection against attacks, it certainly levels up your security settings.

This is why businesses need to have a concrete cybersecurity plan in place as we continue to move forward from the pandemic.

The article has been written by Shibu Paul, Vice President – International Sales at Array Networks