Protecting your clients’ personal information is extremely serious business. There are examples all around us on a weekly, (and sometimes daily) basis about companies that have been subject to hackers or malware that allowed cyber criminals to access client information. The Equifax Breach is just one more recent example of the importance of maintaining and updating your security protocols, especially if your company has access to client or consumer information, such as social security numbers, credit card information, and/or financial statements.
Equifax is one of the nation’s three major credit reporting agencies. The breach lasted over three months from May-July 2017 and may have exposed sensitive information for more than 143 million Americans. Information such as social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, credit card numbers, and driver’s license numbers was potentially accessed. If you have a credit report, there is a good chance that you could be one of the people impacted by this breach.
From a business perspective, there are lessons that can be gleaned from this event as with many of the other recent hacking incidents. Here are a few things your company should consider going forward in regard to security for your system and network.
- Review your Password Strategy – As a small- or medium-sized business, you may not have the time to think about changing your passwords often, but make the time! Not only should you change passwords regularly, but you should also use different passwords for each account and have a password manager create and manage the information.
- Update Regularly – IT professionals will tell you that if your software is not up-to-date then you are not utilizing the most recent security updates as well. In this digital age, hackers are one step ahead and need to be held at bay with the latest security techniques.
- Add a Second Layer of Defense – By enabling Two-Factor Authentication, your company is adding a second layer of defense. Two-factor authentication is highly recommended for all your online activity, such as your webmail, online banking, cloud accounts, and so on.
- Use the Best Antivirus and Anti-Malware – Keep your company secure with the newest versions of all antivirus and anti-malware. Reputable anti-malware on all your devices – laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones can identify, quarantine, delete, and report any suspicious activity.
- Back Ups – As with any digital information, always perform regular backups so that in the case of a hack, your data can be restored and accessed quickly.
Do you have questions about your IT security and need help tightening up your SMB? Call M&H Consulting today at 1-(866)-964-8324 or visit our website M&H Consults
Categorised in: antimalware, antispyware, antivirus, data breach