Are you making one of these critical IT security mistakes?
The global damage of cybercrime has risen to an average of $11 million USD per minute, costing $190,000 each second.
60% of small and mid-sized companies that have a data breach end up closing their doors within six months because they can’t afford the costs. The costs of falling victim to a cyberattack can include loss of business, downtime/productivity losses, reparation costs for customers that have had data stolen, and more.
You may think that this means investing more in cybersecurity, and you indeed need to have appropriate IT security safeguards in place (anti-malware, firewall, etc.). However, many of the most damaging breaches are due to common cybersecurity mistakes that companies and their employees make. The 2021 Sophos Threat Report, which looked at thousands of global data breaches, found that what it termed “everyday threats” were some of the most dangerous. The report stated, “A lack of attention to one or more aspects of basic security hygiene has been found to be at the root cause of many of the most damaging attacks we’ve investigated.”
Is your company making a dangerous cybersecurity mistake that is leaving you at high risk for a data breach, cloud account takeover, or ransomware infection?
Here are 4 of the most common missteps when it comes to basic IT security best practices.
1) NOT IMPLEMENTING MUTI-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION (MFA)
According to IBM Security, credit theft has become the top cause of data breaches worldwide. With most company processes and data now being cloud-based, login credentials hold the key to multiple types of attacks on company networks.
Not protecting your user logins with multi-factor authentication is a common mistake that leaves companies at a much higher risk of falling victim to a breach. MFA reduces fraudulent sign-in attempts by a staggering 99.9%.
2) THINKING YOU’RE FINE WITH ONLY AN ANTIVIRUS APPLICATION
No matter how small your business is, a simple antivirus application is not enough to keep you protected. In fact, many of today’s threats don’t use a malicious file at all.
Phishing emails will contain commands sent to legitimate PC systems that aren’t flagged as viruses or malware. Phishing also overwhelmingly uses links these days rather than file attachments to send users to malicious sites. Those links won’t get caught by simple antivirus solutions. You need to have a multi-layered strategy in place that includes things like:
- Next-gen anti-malware (uses AI and machine learning)
- Next-gen firewall
- Email filtering
- DNS filtering
- Automated application and cloud security policies
- Cloud access monitoring
3) NOT HAVING DEVICE MANAGEMENT IN PLACE
A majority of companies around the world have had employees working remotely from home since the pandemic, and they’re planning to keep it that way. However, device management for those remote employee devices as well as smartphones used for business hasn’t always been put in place.
If you’re not managing security or data access for all the endpoints (company and employee-owned) in your business, you’re at a higher risk of a data breach. If you don’t have one already, it’s time to put a device management application in place, like Intune in Microsoft 365.
4) NOT PROVIDING ADEQUATE CYBERSECURITY TRAINING TO EMPLOYEES
An astonishing 95% of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error. Too many companies don’t take the time to train their employees continually; thus, users haven’t developed the skills needed for a good cybersecurity culture.
Employee IT security awareness training should be done throughout the year, not just annually or during an onboarding process. The more you keep IT security front and center, the better your team will be equipped to identify phishing attacks and follow proper data handling procedures. Some ways to infuse cybersecurity training into your company culture include:
- Short training videos
- IT security posters
- Webinars
- Team training sessions
- Cybersecurity tips in company newsletters
WHEN DID YOU LAST HAVE A CYBERSECURITY CHECKUP?
Don’t stay in the dark about your IT security vulnerabilities. Schedule a cybersecurity audit to uncover vulnerabilities so they can be fortified to reduce your risk. Get in touch with our MSP Team today for help with your cybersecurity today!
