Cyber security is often unknown territory for a lot of people, despite our reliance on technology today. We are often told the best practices to keep our data safe and often the devices have existing built insecurity to save users the hassle. Unfortunately for a lot of users when they agree to security measures they often are not aware of what they are agreeing to or exactly what measures are being taken to protect their personal information. This is often most important for businesses that hold sensitive clientele information, yet once again they often do not particularly understand its importance.

If you are an individual or small organization looking to protect yourself from the growing threat of cyber security breaches, then here are the basics you should understand:

What Is Cyber Security?

Essentially, cyber security is the protection of personal and sensitive data from unauthorized users. All the technologies used often hold some form of personal information, and sometimes stores data that you are not even aware of. This sensitive data can be used against a business or individual to invade sensitive information for criminal use or data breach. As mentioned as our reliance on technology and online use grows, the more measures and caution we should be taking when securing personal data.

Why Is It Important To Keep Data Safe?

From a personal perspective, if your online details are not data secure then you will be at risk of cyber attackers stealing your information for illegal use. For example, many people have been hacked for their bank details, which has detrimentally affected their lives as a result of all their money being stolen. Luckily banks have their security measures in place to protect their customers, but cybercriminals are constantly coming up with new innovative ways to breach their victim’s data.

From a business cyber security perspective, most of them today rely on technologies for their private accounts. A breach of data can mean the leak of sensitive information, and cyber attacks can even go as far as to deface a business and steal all of its business data. A business can lose all of its clients from a reliance perspective too, as customers would not want to work with a company that puts their data at risk.

How To Keep Data Safe

There are many simple steps that you can take towards protecting your data:

Educate Your Staff

From a business perspective, your staff should be aware of the potential threats that they might face from cyber attackers. Many attacks that have happened could have been prevented if businesses were educated as to how the attacks take place. Education is key, and investing some time and money into cyber safety training would be valuable.

Vulnerability Assessments

To protect the current data systems you have, it is important to first detect where the potential threat might come from. Identifying the weaknesses early can prevent any future detrimental cyber attacks, and might just save your business from serious damage. Vulnerability assessments will help with this security risk by first pointing out the areas that need attention, to then taking the appropriate measures.

Keep Your Systems Up To Date

When your software systems are not up-to-date they often are more susceptible to weaknesses. These weaknesses are easier for cyber attackers to target so it is important to stay on top of things. Once they have breached your system, it can be too late to make any changes therefore you should review and ensure you are as upgraded and protected as possible.

By mikasa