As soon as anyone hears the word “cybersecurity”, the first thing everyone things about is it being “too technical” to understand “for me.” They couldn’t be further from the truth! Although understanding cybersecurity can seem like a daunting task for most, it is a crucial part of everyday life.
We all share the responsibility in knowing how cybersecurity, or the lack of, can affect us. Big banks and big tech companies aren’t the only ones that should be held responsible for it. We live in a world where connectivity is a daily challenge. Everyday we want more of it. This opens big threats and should also make each and every one of us step up to protect our families, communities and our society.
What can we do to help?
Be aware of what they are after
What do you think cyber criminals want? The first guess for the majority of people is money. Sure, they want money. That’s not all they want, though. We live in a digital age where sensitive information is becoming a bigger form of currency. It’s imperative to know how much of your data is available to them. Where is it? How do you store your data? Who do you trust with it and why? Your data is worth a lot more than you think.
Decrease your digital footprint
Knowing who has your sensitive data and what they’re doing with it can be elusive. Proactively figuring out who has what and making sure you properly dispose of it can’t hurt. Cyber criminals can’t steal and misuse your information that can’t be found.
Spread the word
Tell as many people as you can about how cybersecurity starts from home. Tell your employees, business partners, family, friends and neighbors. Don’t get too hung up on why it matters to you. Focus on how it can benefit them by minimizing the risk of getting their sensitive information stolen by criminals. Everyone can make a difference by simply being aware of the dangers of providing data to just anyone.
Anyone can be a victim
I’ve seen it over and over again: a “tech” savvy person mocking someone else for having clicked on a spammy link and got either infected with a virus or unwillingly gave up sensitive information. Anyone can fall victim to a cybersecurity threat. It’s important we treat the situation as a mistake and take steps to provide information so that it won’t happen again.
Embarrassing someone after falling for a cyber attack only hinders progress as someone else might try to cover up the same mistake fearing they will be either shamed or disciplined. This only makes matters worse. Even the biggest corporations and biggest government agencies with big IT budgets get hacked. This can happen to anyone.
Prepare for the worst
As the world becomes more and more digital, the threat of when an attack will happen to you or your organization grows. It seems like we hear about big data breaches more often as the world is now more connected than ever. It’s never a bad idea to start preparing now on what would happen if you or your organization were involved in a cybersecurity situation.
By preparing for a cybercrime, you essentially have some sort of cybersecurity. It’s important that we all are prepared to know how to properly detect a breach of security, how to respond to one and how to recover from an attack.
Don’t set it and forget it
Cybersecurity is an evolving creature. You can’t just set a firewall or install expensive antivirus software and be done. It’s important you constantly evaluate your assets and risks. Keeping you or your organizations sensitive information is a journey you and your team (or family) need to work on continually to achieve. You can use the NIST Cybersecurity Framework as a guide on how to implement this.
Don’t over do it
The good thing is that implementing cybersecurity in your routine day to day isn’t as complicated as you may think. You can use these tips to build more conscience on how you interact on the web, how you use your personal information to receive something for “free”, how you use your credit cards, where you shop, etc.
Cybersecurity is part of your daily life. The more you and the people around you can understand this, the safer we can all be when connecting with others or institutions.
JTD Partners offers a wide range of services for your organization’s cybersecurity. We can implement strategies to identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover from cybersecurity attacks. Learn more.