9 Cybersecurity Best Practices For Your IT Team

There are ways to protect business data against ransomware attacks. Here are 9 tips to help your IT team boost your business’ resilience to cyber attacks:

1. Renew your security risk assessment. Things change over time. If it’s been a while since your IT team has thoroughly assessed your information security posture, be sure to clear up some time on your schedule to get that taken care of!

2. Train your employees. Because cyber security threats are constantly evolving, an ongoing training plan should be implemented for all employees. Your IT provider or internal team should be able to arrange such training.

3. Get password hygiene under control. Implement a password policy that requires strong passwords and check for leaked employee accounts through dark web monitoring. For more comprehensive security, consider mandatory multi-factor authentication, ongoing network monitoring, and hard drive encryption.

4. Keep all devices updated. Your IT team should already be taking care of patching and updating the devices — but that may not include all of your staff’s personal devices, laptops, phones, or even smart devices in the office. Be vigilant about patch management for these devices, and speak to your IT team about adding coverage as needed.

5. Create straightforward cybersecurity policies. If your IT team hasn’t created internal information security policies, doing so should become a priority. Strict, documented policies are a critical part of an overall security strategy.

6. Consider your data backup policies. You should already be running a data backup solution as part of your IT strategy. (If not, now would be a good time to start!) Review how your data needs may have changed since first implementing this solution and determine if you need more frequent backups or other recovery options.

7. Conduct a practice restore. The best way to know if you have the right Backup and Data Recovery solution in place is to test it in a real-world scenario. If your IT team hasn’t conducted a practice restore to get a complete picture of what lies ahead in times of disaster, make it a priority.

8. Know where your data resides. The more places data exists, the more likely it is that unauthorized individuals will be able to access it. Your IT team should help you use data discovery tools to find and appropriately secure data and implement Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications that allow for corporate control of data.

9. Control access to computers. Use key cards or similar security measures to control access to facilities, ensure that employees use strong passwords for laptops and desktops. Administrative privileges should only be given to trusted staff.

Your IT department or IT provider should be your source of up-to-date, reliable cybersecurity information. Stay vigilant, stay informed, and always err on the side of caution.

To learn more, book a free, zero obligation custom consultation with the CEO of mPowered IT. You can also give us a call at 678-389-6200.