As technology is leaping forward, many businesses have moved on from keeping paper records to almost total digitalization. In turn, cybersecurity has become a vital part of any business structure. Understanding how to protect your company data from hackers can mean the difference between maintaining stable and successful operations and suffering millions of dollars in losses.
I have been working in the cybersecurity field for several years now. For most of my time, I have been working on database security. It’s about time I do my essay on the topic and share the experience I managed to accumulate.
The field is constantly evolving and there will always be new things to learn. But the three pillars of cybersecurity – passwords, security updates, and a human factor – are unlikely to change any time soon. Let’s go through those three and see how you can make sure your business is as safe from potential data breaches as it can be.
Optimal Password Protection
Passwords make up one of the first lines of defense. It’s one of the few barriers that stand between a user and the data you want to protect. That’s why keeping your passwords secure is one of the most effective ways to ensure your business is safe from cyber-attacks. Mind that it’s important regardless of whether you are creating a profile to order an essay on EssayWritingService or make a purchase in an online store. There are several components to a solid password:
- Length
- Variables
- Popularity
- Change frequency
The purpose of the first two components is pretty obvious. The longer your password is, the more time it takes to brute-force it. Adding more lower and upper case letters to your selection also drastically increases the number of possible password combinations. This, in turn, makes it too time-costly to go for a direct approach. Especially if you don’t reuse your passwords.
But trying out every possible combination isn’t needed most of the time. A lot of people tend to go for the simplest possible thing even when it concerns their personal data security. If your lock can be opened by half the keys on the planet, it doesn’t really do well at its job. Avoid using personal info as passwords, however obscure they may be. A perfect password is a random combination of numbers and letters.
Below you can see the list of the most popular passwords used by people all over the world.
The last factor in your business data security is how often you change your passwords. It may seem obvious that it should be done as often as possible. But in actuality, making your employees do it too frequently causes them to come up with weaker and more predictable passwords to avoid forgetting them.
The benefit of a daily password change, on the other hand, is pretty marginal. The exact optimal time frame depends on your business. But on average you can get away with changing your passwords approximately once a month or so. This will hit the perfect middle ground between security and comfort. A secure password is the first step to protecting your business.
Software Updates
Software updates are constantly rolled out to bring not only your software functionality but also system security mechanisms up to date. Security is a constantly evolving part of any software. One that requires frequent maintenance to function properly and effectively. Delaying your software updates prevents security engineers from patching up holes in the system in a timely manner.
Automated software updates can prove quite annoying at times. Moreover, a forced update can sometimes disrupt the workflow of your employees. The ideal solution is to disable automatic forced updates and manually greenlight them. But if you do so, you must do it responsibly.
There might never be a good time to take a lengthy break to wait for an update to finish. But you should make sure it is done nonetheless. Usually, an IT department keeps track of all the required updates. But if you are at the point where you hold a lot of shared responsibilities, take your time to research this subject. Keep your software up to date and you will avoid 99 percent of potential cybersecurity problems.
Human Factor
The human factor is one of the weakest points of any security system. As you can see from the graph, it comes a close second right after malware.
Educating your employees about cybersecurity is a very important task. But it can prove difficult due to the nature of cybersecurity as a field. You don’t really feel the fruits of your work if it works right. A data breach, on the other hand, can really elevate alertness, but it is too late once it happens.
Find a personal approach to your employees to keep them invested in the security of your company. Make sure they understand what they are doing and why. Make sure they are aware of the consequences of a potential data breach. Conduct regular drills and checks. But do try to find the balance between all this activity and not putting too much pressure on people who work for you.
Racing to Safety
Cybersecurity today is a vital part of virtually any business. It’s a constant race between those who seek out software vulnerabilities and use them and those who are trying to patch holes in the system before it’s too late. The one thing I have learned during my years of working in cybersecurity is there is always something new to learn. And keeping up with all the new trends in this field can certainly prove to be a challenge.
Make sure your passwords are secure, keep your software up to date, and do your best to educate your employees about cybersecurity. These three main points will make sure you are mostly covered. But there are plenty of little things you can research and improve upon in terms of data security. Always strive to improve.