Corporate IT cybersecurity advices from Benjamin Dynkin and Atlas Cybersecurity right now? A desktop computer and a landline used to be all we needed for a solid day of work — simple, effective and fairly straightforward in terms of security. But now it’s a completely different story. Sure, many people do sit at a desk all day, but most of us carry around laptops, tablets, USB drives and smartphones, all of which we might use for both professional and personal reasons. This, clearly, is a security nightmare. Your company should have an official policy that advocates the separation of work and personal phones, as well as terms of use for business phones. Malware can enter at any point, and networked smartphones are a particularly weak point when they’re used for personal reasons. They might have better security than a purely personal phone, but when one is infected they can all go down. See more info on Benjamin Dynkin.
Use Multiple Authentication Methods. Authentication is the act of confirming an identity (whether a user, machine, or device) by comparing provided credentials against an existing database of authorized identities before allowing access to a given system or application. For example, think of entering your username and password before gaining access to your email account. However, rather than relying on passwords alone, which have grown increasingly unreliable, we recommend using multiple factors for the authentication process. Authentication factors include something you know (e.g. username/password, answer to security question), something you have (e.g. Digital Certificate, smart card), and something you are (e.g. fingerprint, facial recognition).
If you plan on traveling, change all of the passwords you regularly use. Similarly, if you must create a PIN for a safe or security box in a hotel room, make sure it’s unique and not something you commonly use. Don’t skimp on password creation either—a numerical sequence is not ideal. Take the time to create something that will keep a criminal out of your personal property. Once you return home, you can change all the passwords back.
Use Strong Passwords & Use a Password Management Tool. You’ve probably heard that strong passwords are critical to online security. The truth is passwords are important in keeping hackers out of your data! According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) 2022 new password policy framework, you should consider: Dropping the crazy, complex mixture of upper case letters, symbols, and numbers. Instead, opt for something more user-friendly but with at least eight characters and a maximum length of 64 characters. If you want to make it easier to manage your passwords, try using a password management tool or password account vault. LastPass FREE is a great tool for an individual. LastPass offers a FREE account and has a $2/month membership with some great advanced password features.
Benjamin Dynkin and Atlas Cybersecurity on data breaches: What is a Data Breach? To define data breach: a data breach exposes confidential, sensitive, or protected information to an unauthorized person. The files in a data breach are viewed and/or shared without permission. Anyone can be at risk of a data breach — from individuals to high-level enterprises and governments. More importantly, anyone can put others at risk if they are not protected. In general, data breaches happen due to weaknesses in: Technology, User behavior. As our computers and mobile devices get more connective features, there are more places for data to slip through. New technologies are being created faster than we can protect them.