April 28, 2020 | By stephen

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Why We Need To #ClickSlowly During COVID-19 | My Top 3 Tips To Protect Your Business From Cyber Attacks

• Work From Home

Whenever there’s a global crisis, the risk of cybersecurity breaches skyrockets.

Take the terrible wildfires in Australia earlier this year. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) there were 500 scams reported during that time. Scammers set up fake charities seeking donations and some people were even posing as relatives of real bushfire victims on crowdfunding sites. Fucked up, right?

Unfortunately, there will always be bad guys out there looking to lie, cheat and steal from innocent people, so it’s really up to us to #clickslowly and be diligent users of technology—especially now.

What we’re seeing amidst the COVID-19 crisis specifically are phishing emails with sketchy links around coronavirus “news” and malicious apps for your phone that claim to monitor and track cases. Scammers leverage these moments of panic to prey on people who aren’t paying attention, so while we may be comfortably working from home, it’s important not to get too comfortable and become lax about cybersecurity best practices. But don’t worry, I’ve made protecting yourself and your business easy.

Here are my top 3 tips to arm your business against cybersecurity attacks:

1. Get real backups of your data

A lot of people think all backups are created equal, and I’m here to say that’s just not true. One of the most effective ways to back up your data is to air gap. Say what now? Air gapping is a security strategy that ensures at any point in time, one copy of your company’s data is disconnected and offline from your system, so no matter what happens on any given day, you can always be sure your most important files are safe.

2. Set up two factor authentication. Now. Like yesterday, really.

I get it. Passwords suck. They’re hard to remember and we have like 140+ accounts to keep track of, but once someone gets a hold of just one of your passwords they can use it elsewhere. Because let’s be real, no one has a unique password for all 140+ accounts. With a two factor authentication in place, you can afford to give away your password because your smartphone is the real key to the castle.

3. #Clickslowly

At the end of the day we are responsible for protecting ourselves. We live in a highly productive, fast-paced society, and it’s important that we remember to always be aware and alert, especially while we work remotely. One key thing to keep an eye on is ANY and EVERY LINK that crosses your inbox. Check the sender and hover over the link to make sure it looks legit and that the sender is who they say they are. Remember, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

It may also be worth considering regular cyber security testing and training for your team. No, I didn’t make this an official part of my tips list, BUT if you have questions or are in need of direct support, feel free to reach out to me directly on LinkedIn or head over to https://www.goleadingit.com/ to learn more.