How to Prevent Cyber Attacks

Failing to prevent a cyberattack could have a devastating impact on your business. Did you know that 83% of companies will experience some kind of data breach? If you want to keep your organization secure, you must take steps to improve your organizational resilience and culture.

This article will describe how to do this in more detail, so if you want to learn more about how to prevent cyber attacks, read on!

Keep Your Software Up to Date

One of the best pieces of cybersecurity advice is that you always need to keep your software up to date. This is important because cybercriminals often try to exploit security vulnerabilities in software. When criminals discover these kinds of vulnerabilities, there’s usually a short window where they can easily exploit them. Eventually, the software developer finds the issue and issues a security patch to correct the problem. 

When you don’t update your software, not only are you missing out on the newest features, but you’re also not getting these critical security updates. 

This means you should always try to keep the software on your critical systems as up-to-date as possible. In some cases, there might be a legitimate reason why you might want to stay on an older software version. For example, maybe the latest version has a compatibility issue. In this case, you’ll need to be sure that the patch you’re avoiding only contains new features and not any essential security updates. If you’re ever in doubt, you should contact the software manufacturer. 

Use Two Factor Authentication

Another way you can defend your organization against cybersecurity threats is by using two factor authentication. Two-factor authentication, or 2FA, is a simple security system that can have very effective results. The principle is simple. Whenever someone logs in to your organization, they’ll need to confirm the log in via a secondary method. For example, you might receive a text message on your phone that contains a code. You input the code into the login screen, and your identity is confirmed. 

This security method is so effective because it means an attacker would need to have access to multiple services to compromise your account. Let’s say a cybercriminal hacks your work account password. The password is useless if they don’t also have a way to get the code from your cell phone. 

While dealing with a two-factor authentication system may feel like a hindrance in the beginning, it becomes second nature once you get used to it. There’s a reason why sensitive organizations such as banks insist on using this kind of security method. It’s simply one of the best ways to keep cybercriminals out of your accounts. 

Back Up Your Data

If you might be dealing with attacks on network security, you should always consider your data backups. One of the biggest threats your organization could face is ransomware. Cybercriminals use ransomware to extort businesses by applying unbreakable encryption to their files. The criminal then says the victim can recover the files if they pay a hefty ransom. 

Many businesses end up with such vital files locked down that they have no choice but to pay the ransom. The good news is that protecting yourself from this kind of cyber attack is easy. All you need to do is have high-quality backup systems in place. When you have a data backup, you can simply ignore the ransomware and revert to a previous configuration. If you back up your data daily, you’ll only lose 24 hours of data in the worst-case scenario. If you 

Have a Plan for What to do During a Cyber Attack

You’ll also need to ensure you have a plan for what to do during a cyber attack. This can help to limit the damage that a cybercriminal could potentially cause. For example, you could plan to shut down your systems in the event of an attack. This could ensure an attacker can’t further damage your IT systems. With that said, cyber attacks can occur quite quickly, so you shouldn’t assume that you’ll be able to act in time. 

The best plans for a cyber attack are based on incident response rather than trying to shut an ongoing attack down. For example, you might have someone responsible for initiating the backup systems during a ransomware attack. 

The best defense against cybercriminals is building resilience before an attack occurs. Generally speaking, cyber-attacks are too fast-paced for you to be able to respond during the actual attack. 

Create Security Culture

One of the most important things you can do to keep your organization safe from cyber attacks is to create a strong security culture. Creating a cybersecurity culture isn’t easy. It means your organization has frequent awareness and training about potential cybersecurity risks. It also means there are clear rules and procedures in place with strong accountability mechanisms and clear lines of responsibility.

In a strong cybersecurity culture, there’s open communication about potential cybersecurity risks, and employees feel empowered to report anything they see as suspicious to an accountable individual. 

Having a solid security culture is one of the most effective ways to protect your company from an attack. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most challenging things on this list to implement. You can’t create culture by having a single cybersecurity awareness session. It needs to be a consistent process. 

Now You Know How to Prevent Cyber Attacks

Now you know more about how to prevent cyber attacks. As you can see, the key here is preparation. There’s not much you can do to respond to a cyber attack while you’re actively under attack. The best solutions are to prepare in advance. 

If you want to build up your company’s resilience, it makes a lot of sense to work with a professional IT company. Contact us today to learn more about how we can keep your organization safe and secure.