As more of our lives are conducted online, security against hackers is becoming more important. Hackers are focused on two things: causing chaos and taking money. They take personal information and use it to create unauthorized charges against your accounts, or they can cause disruption to your business through malware to trigger denial of service attacks or other issues.
The good news is that there are a variety of options to prevent cyberattacks, and most of them require no significant amount of effort. Start by encrypting information that’s not transmitted via the internet (that includes employee social security numbers or bank routing digits and other sensitive information). Enable the full-disk encryption software that is included in the majority of operating systems. For Macs this is FileVault, and for PCs, it’s BitLocker.
Always keep your software up-to-date. Many hackers gain access to computers through exploiting weaknesses found in outdated software. Updates fix these weaknesses, making it much harder for hackers to gain access to your system and steal information.
Install a firewall on all your devices. Firewalls are a network system that is designed to control the incoming and outgoing data on your computer. Windows and macOS come with firewalls built-in but it is suggested to employ a third-party application to protect mobile devices and home networks.
Review your device and network names. Avoid using personal identifiers, such as your last name or your phone number in these names, as they can allow hackers to gain access to your personal information.
Be cautious about discussing your work in public. Hackers can exploit even the smallest details such as your hometown or pet’s from this source name to break into security systems.