Keep Your Data Safe This Holiday Season!
‘Tis the Season for Business Data Safety
Just before the US Thanksgiving, US authorities warned the IT world that a new trend was spotted. The folks at the FBI and CISA (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Agency) noticed that there is a rise in serious attack attempts over holidays. For example, in 2021, the Mother’s Day weekend, Memorial Day Weekend & Independence Day all saw serious attacks. And, whilst it was US holidays that seemed to be the timing guide, Business Data Safety has been threatened in multiple countries.
Why? Well, to put it simply, people are distracted! Their thoughts are “elsewhere”. Offices are empty and running on skeleton crews. Companies let down their guard. So, they become more vulnerable to attack.
Of course, in the world of holidays, this weekend is a big one… and the Grinch will definitely be unleashed!
On top of these cyber-threats, there is also a rise in regular, “old style” theft at this time of the year. Traditionally, burglary, theft, and vehicle break-ins spike over this festive season.
So, what are you doing to protect your Business Data Safety over the holidays?
Here are some suggestions to improve Business Data Safety :
- Firstly, have a good disaster response plan and make sure everyone in the organization knows it.
- Train staff to be extra vigilant opening potentially dangerous links or attachments.
- Make sure all software and operating systems are up-to-date and patched.
- Have good anti-virus software and perform regular scans.
- Use strong passwords and multi-factor authentication.
- Do not leave devices alone in vehicles. (Smartphones & electronics are the top most stolen items from vehicles). And if you absolutely MUST leave something in your car briefly, never leave it on a seat or in view.
- Finally, the top thing you can do is make offline back-ups of your data. This is something every smart company should be doing anyway, but it is the best (and cheapest!) way to get back to work after a ransomware attack.
