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And as we all prepare for our final days off before year-end, before signing out for annual pie-making contests and cookie-baking (and eating) marathons, there’s one more item that we must check off…
There’s another group lurking, waiting for all of us to let our guards down. The busier we get, the easier it is for malicious threats to get past our usual, diligent selves.
Why do hackers strike more during the season of goodwill?
The last thing you need is to deal with a cyber hack. That’s why we’ve put together a list of three ways you can ramp up your security policies—professionally at work and in your personal life—to help you stay safe and secure, and avoid a successful cyber attack.
Ensuring you have a strong, sufficient password is the first step to securing … everything! Here are a few good rules of thumb when creating passwords—check to ensure that you’re using these rules across every account.
Secure passwords are:
Layer strong passwords and passphrases (like the ones described above) with multi-factor authentication applications and immediately gain an extra layer of security. We use the multi-factor authentication application Duo at Right Networks (we also include it in every cloud hosting package.) With Duo enabled, each time I log into an application, Duo pings me, asking if I’m *actually* the one attempting to log into my account.
For example, let’s say I’m logging into Outlook:
That’s it!
The whole process takes an extra 10 seconds total, and from those steps, it’s clear that even if a hacker were able to guess my extremely unique, long passphrase, there would be no way for them to get to the next step.
To learn more about how multi-factor authentication works, check out our eBook, 3 Reasons Why You Should Use Multi-Factor Authentication Security.
Yea—a bit backward-seeming advice, right? But the numbers speak for themselves. And all of the password, security, multi-factor authentication technology in the world cannot protect you from yourself.
“Human error was a major contributing cause in 95% of all breaches. In other words, had human error not been a factor, the chances are that 19 out of 20 breaches analyzed in the study would not have happened at all.” ¹
Hurts, doesn’t it?
Here are some tips to use when browsing through your inbox, internet, etc. When sorting through email, pay attention to:
Look at the email address domain. Look at the naming convention preceding the email address domain. If a) you don’t recognize the sender, b) the sender usually communicates from a different email, or c) the domain is off, these are all signs that a hacker may be trying to get you to take the bait.
Here’s an example, using my email address:
At first glance, the last three could pass as my legitimate email address. And in the fast pace we all work in, a user could see one of those, scan over the contents, and open up whatever attachment or link “I” have sent them. It’s only by slowing down and reading who the email is coming from that a user would notice the slight variation and raise the red flag.
Stay attentive. Slow down. Do not fall for common hacker tricks. Verifying the sender’s email address is legitimate is only the first step—unfortunately.
Look out for these other red flags:
The founder and former CEO emailed me, requesting that I take care of an urgent matter. We’ve never spoken before, so that immediately raised a red flag. The lack of subject line, poor grammar and urgency raised more red flags. And what the “urgent matter” actually was? No one knows because the hacker wasn’t smart enough to come up with something:
The IRS asks me to verify some information before they can process my return. The IRS is a big fan of snail mail and would never request PII via email link, so again, hacker—be better at what you do. (Note the obvious sarcasm.)
Here’s another red flag: If something is sent to an entire team of people—but is clearly something one person would take care of—something’s off. The hacker is attempting to get as many individuals to click or open the malicious file; the attempt is poorly executed, because everyone on my team is well aware of such trickery. Note who the email was sent to and what the directions state.
What did we learn? In conclusion:
Of course, there’s one more way you can ensure secure, safe browsing and email-checking: Use the cloud.
Right Networks’ suite of cloud solutions make applications, software, and data accessible in real-time from any device—plus, we’ve equipped it to recognize and neutralize cyber-threats.
Schedule an appointment to learn more about the security benefits that our cloud solutions provide firms and businesses today.
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