malware Archives

As a business, you can keep track of data for many customers and from some of the work you have done yourself. Whether it is research or surveys or from other locations, this data is integral to helping you get ahead of the competition.

It can also be personal information from your customers and keeping this secure and safe from hackers who may like to get ahold of the data is so important. But how are you going to keep the data somewhere you can use it while ensuring that it will stay safe?

The good news is that businesses do have options when it comes to keeping their business data as secure as possible. Some of the steps that you can take to keep your business data secure include:

Come Up With Your Strategy

It is never good to have a vague idea of your procedures and policy. You need to have a formally written IT strategy that has all of the details about your plan. This plan needs to lay out how you plan to protect your resources and data along with steps that everyone must take if something goes wrong.

Writing the plan is just the first step. You will need to keep it updated and nearby at all times. When something changes along with your business, you need to bring out that plan and make some of the necessary problems as well.

You may need to sit down with a cybersecurity specialist to help you figure out what steps should be in the plan. This will ensure that nothing is left out of the plan and can help you discover some more of the vulnerabilities that may be present in your network.

Protect Your Network Against Malware

With a plan in place, you are able to take the necessary steps to keep all of the bad stuff out. Come up with a plan that will ward off malware and any other malicious software that could take your data.

Always assume that a hacker is trying to get to your data and be proactive. Some of the ways that you can do this include:

-Apply a firewall: While this is not enough to do on its own, your router’s firewall is going to provide a good line of defense so keep it turned on.

-PC protection: This can include anti-malware and anti-virus protection on your system. You may also need some protection to help protect you against identity theft, suspect websites, and more.

-Clean out the emails: This is often the job of anti-spam software. This can keep the unwanted, unsecured emails out and protects from accidentally hitting one that can cause issues.

Encrypt the Wireless Network

If you are using a wireless network at all, then you need to have some special precautions in place. Encryption is a good place to start, but if it is not done well, hackers are still able to get around it all and can cause trouble. You need to make sure that your router has the right amount of strength to keep others out.

One way is to use encryption here. Another is to turn off the broadcasting function on the router. This will help make your network invisible. When a hacker is not able to see your wireless network, it is a lot harder for them to hack right through it.

Watch the Passwords

Even your password can be strengthened to help safeguard all of the data in your system. This can be a hassle to remember, but the more complexity that you get with the password, the easier it is to protect your data and everything on the system.

There are a few steps that you can take to help safeguard your password. Make sure that it is a minimum of eight characters long and add non-standard characters and numbers as well. This makes it harder for anyone to figure out what the passwords are.

You should also consider changing up the passwords on occasion to make it harder to guess. Using different credentials that are not words and passwords that are random letters and numbers and special characters can be a good option as well.

You may find in this situation that a password manager is going to come in handy. This makes it easier to keep track of these random passwords so you do not need to write them down and risk them being stolen.

For your business, make sure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to passwords. Enforce that these passwords need to be strong to help protect the data by setting up rules that everyone must follow.

Set Up Software Updates

This should be something that is automatic. When you do not complete some of the necessary updates with your software, it makes it much easier for hackers to find some of the vulnerabilities in the system and do what they want inside.

Hackers are more than happy to scan a network or a website to see which version of the software is running at that time. They can then take a look at which vulnerabilities are present for them to explore in some of the older versions.

You should take the time to update your device security settings, any operating system you need, and other software to the newest versions and do any other updates as necessary as you use the system.

You can also set it up so any patches and improvements that come out are going to update for you automatically in the background. This takes out the guesswork on when it needs to be done while protecting your whole network from any potential threats.

Keeping Your Data Safe

As a business, it is your responsibility to keep all of the data that you use as safe as possible. There are different ways to do this but with the help of some of the steps above, you can keep hackers off and keep all of that data as safe as possible.

Our world is changing. It is undergoing rapid and massive digitization. It would be safe to claim that we have the global pandemic to blame for that. However, we believe that we would have gotten there anyway given the trajectory of our current technological advancements.

Education, various business processes一almost everything can already be done online these days. The world has passed a point of no return and will never go back to what it was pre-pandemic. What has been made digital will remain digital. While this new normal does offer a lot of conveniences, it also presented a new set of challenges, particularly in cybersecurity. And of all the industries that have gone online, it is probably the world of banking that we are most concerned for. What are the financial problems that these changes will pose?

In this article, we are going to talk about the biggest threats to cybersecurity in the banking sector. Let’s start with the most basic: unencrypted data.

Unencrypted Data

Data encryption is the process of converting data from a readable format into a decoded one. Various institutions usually have their own specific codes. In this way, no one would be able to easily read their data outside the firm, should their data fall into the wrong hands.

Think of data encryption as both the vanguard and the rear of cybersecurity. An effective encryption process can deter people with malicious intent. And if they ever get their hands on the said data, they would still have to try to decrypt it anyway before it can be of any use to them. These added security measures can be truly valuable for any financial institution.

Malware

The next imminent threat is malware. While we have no doubt that most financial institutions work with competent cybersecurity agencies in order to protect their devices from being hacked, it is also true that this might not include their staff.

A breach into a system is still possible through a compromised employee phone. All he needs to do is to connect to the office’s computer network and a hacker can already begin accessing compromising information.

The same thing can happen when you’re collaborating with a third-party service. We understand how convenient it is to employ a third-party service. It can potentially save time, money, and other resources.

However, it can also expose your financial institution to certain risks if your partner doesn’t have effective cybersecurity measures in place.

The best solution to prevent potential attacks in this manner remains to be adequate employee training. Make your staff aware of the very real (and billion-dollar) repercussions of a security breach.

It is also possible to limit the access of your employees. Just let them access the minimum data that they need in order to perform their tasks. This is for their own protection as well.

Finally, running comprehensive background checks and being particularly careful with the people you hire will also help. Just make sure that your checks remain compliant to prevent any issues.

As for business partners, one should never be afraid to ask about potential partners’ cybersecurity efforts.

Data Manipulation

Another big concern is data manipulation. There are three ways in how your data can be manipulated. First, it can be stolen, copied, and distributed elsewhere, much like how hackers are able to create realistic company pages for phishing. This is called spoofing.

Data can also be deleted. This is particularly true for bigger financial institutions with competing firms. An attacker might not really have the intention to steal information but to mess up the system by deleting crucial bits of data.

Can you imagine the panic that will ensue if a financial institution suddenly lost all its client information?

Finally, data can be edited without the owner’s knowledge. Despite the common belief that data-stealing is the worst cybersecurity attack that can happen, we still believe data alteration worse. That’s because this attack is a bit difficult to detect right away.

It’s easy for bigger companies to detect if their data has been stolen and being used with malicious intent. Data deletion is a complete giveaway. You will learn that an attack has happened right after it did. There’s even a chance of stopping it halfway if you’re lucky to catch it early enough.

What makes data alteration particularly detrimental is the fact that it can’t easily be detected. A firm can go on for months without even knowing that an attack has happened. After all, the manipulated data may look unaltered on the surface, but the truth is, hundreds (if not thousands) of micro edits have already been made. If the hacker succeeds, the financial institution may be held liable to pay millions of dollars in damages.

How Imminent Is the Threat?

The cybersecurity threats that we have mentioned above are just some of the most common ones that financial institutions globally are faced with every day. It’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are definitely other forms of cyberattacks out there, and even more, being developed by the minute.

According to Mark Whelan, a banking expert from the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group, cyberattacks are more prominent and brazen than ever before. It has even reached the point that they are receiving up to 10 million attacks in a month.

For him, this is the biggest threat that financial institutions are currently facing, and experts predict that it’s only going to get worse.

Final Thoughts

Indeed, it is a brave new world that we’re living in. The risks and threats that we are facing right now are so stark in contrast to what we have experienced in the past. Gone are the days of bank heists with guns blazing. Instead, the bigger threat is probably wearing a sweatshirt right now in a random room somewhere across the globe. The fact that you wouldn’t have to take such a risk on your life makes the prospect even more appealing.

This has led financial institutions to prioritize cybersecurity efforts and training. Fortunately, with adequate risk assessment and planning, we are confident that you will be able to prevent severe cyberattacks from happening.

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Jim Hughes is a content marketer who has significant experience covering technology, finance, economics, and business topics. At the moment, he is the Director of Content at OpenCashAdvance.com.

5 Tips for Keeping Your Business Data Secure