Your data is the life of your business. This is why you need to protect it from threats like malware attacks from hackers and people physically stealing your computer. But how do you keep your passwords, customers’ personal information, financial records, and other personal data safe from outside intruders?
Below we’ve compiled some basic and straightforward steps to secure your devices and networks from threats.
Use strong passwords
A strong password contains eight to 12 characters and a combination of capital and lower-case letters, symbols, and numbers. Don’t use personal data for your password like your birthday, as well as common words spelt backwards. Also, avoid sequences of characters or numbers, and never write your passwords down. If your data is highly-sensitive, change passwords every 90 days or less.
Turn off your computer
Leaving your computer on and connected to the Internet increases the risk of malware attacks. To be safe, always turn off your computer when it’s not in use.
Backup your data
This is one basic yet often overlooked way to protect your data. When backing up your data, servers should have a complete backup weekly. Then, do incremental backups every night. You can create your backup in an external drive or in the cloud. The latter is ideal because you can easily access your file when your server is compromised.
Encrypt your data
Encrypted data requires decrypting to access it, which deters your hacker from stealing your files. Now, you don’t have to be an expert IT guy to encrypt your files. There are plenty of resources to encrypt online and offline. Some examples are VeraCrypt, BitLocker, and TrueCrypt, among others.
Update your OS
Updating your operating system enables you to install security patches that will protect your computer from recent issues or holes that expert programmers have fixed. For Windows, you have to install the updates at least monthly. Other OS don’t update as frequently on a regular schedule.
Adjust your browser settings
Go into your browser settings and enable privacy and security features while you browse. Check out your respective browser’s guide on how to make the necessary adjustments. You can also install anti-tracking browser extensions like uBlock Origin or Disconnect.
Install anti-malware
Malicious software is designed to damage your computer. Some examples of malware include viruses, spyware, Trojan horse, and worms, among others. To avoid this, install a good anti-virus and anti-spyware program on your computer. Also, avoid clicking on suspicious emails and website links.
Put up a strong firewall
A firewall controls internet traffic coming to and from your business. It assists in blocking dangerous programs like the malware mentioned above. This is a standard measure to protect your network. Hardware-based firewalls such as those built into network routers offer a better level of security than those from various software companies.
Secure wireless networks
A password prevents unauthorized people to connect to your wireless network. This prevents them from accessing private information when they share networks with you. Set up your wireless router to hide your Wi-Fi network name, which is known as Service Set Identifier (SSID).
Protecting your data means protecting your business as well. There are plenty of ways to do this, and the above tricks are only the basic ones to secure your files. If you want to up your security to the next level, consider investing in professionalvirtual IT support service that will guarantee your safety from malicious threats.
