The Complete Guide on Cybersecurity, Best Practices & IT Threats 

A big part of our lives has moved to the digital world. Personal information, relationships with friends and family and even our jobs, for an important portion of the society, are happening online. Hence, it is no surprise that digital threats are now being part of our day to day lives.

Now more than ever it is important, from individuals to companies, to have cybersecurity protocols to be protected against the large variety of attacks that exist in the digital world. If you want to learn how to protect yourself and your business from these types of cybersecurity threats, stay reading!

¿What is cybersecurity exactly?

The concept of cybersecurity is broad and holds actions like the protection of the devices we use everyday like computers, tablets, mobile devices, and also, shielding servers, electronic systems and data networks. From what are we protecting the latter mentioned? From cybernetic crimes that aim to steal valuable information.

Cyber Security or,  as it is also known, Computer Security applies to all the components of the IT ecosystem, like net safety, that seeks to avoid intruders or malware; information, meaning data and user privacy, as well as all the information that is stored in the devices, the installed apps on devices, which must have a secure design that does not compromise their performance, and data in them.

A large part of the cyber security measures you must implement are preventative such as having control over your employees’ permissions to access your systems or networks, where they can connect to your network, what user data is collected, and how much access they have to sensitive data.

Due to the latter, it is essential that all employees receive security awareness training and lessons in cybersecurity risks by cyber security professionals. This will be crucial when it comes to defending the business against cyberattacks. Keep in mind that viruses are created thinking in the carelessness that many people can have, and unintentionally, they can introduce destructive viruses to the equipment of your company. Later you will find key tips to train collaborators, and thus, to avoid headaches. These mistakes make it simple for harmful trojans to enter your gear and devices. Continue reading to learn how to teach your colleagues about cyber security, security controls, and how to save yourself future hassles!

If you want to have excellent cybersecurity in your business, educating your employees is not enough; you also need the advice and intervention of an expert ally. They can help you recover faster in the event of an attack and get your business back on track in record time, saving you time and money. At Access Point, we are security experts, with cybersecurity being one of our top priorities, so you can count on us to provide all the security solutions, guidance and assistance you require in order to avoid a cybersecurity breach.

Why does cyber security matter so much?

For any firm, investing in and establishing top-notch cybersecurity processes is now more important than ever. Cybercrimes are increasing daily, and the likelihood that this will continue in the future is growing. Public institutions, the medical sector, and some retail establishments are the sectors most vulnerable to cyberattacks. Finding sensitive information or customer data to utilize in frauds is the aim of these assaults.

Common online security risks include:

Since there are more and more different types of cyberthreats every day, let’s categorize them using the terms below:

1. Cyberterrorism: In this case, the attackers’ goal is to cause panic in a specific segment of the population as a result of data loss or money theft. Typically, these are created with social causes in mind and are aimed at government entities.
2. Cybercrime: This is a type of common delinquency in which the goal is to obtain financial information from ordinary users or sensitive information or content to use in thefts.
3. Cyber attacks: Typically, these attacks are targeted at companies or organizations, both public and private, with the goal of disrupting or terminating their daily operations.

Types of cyberattacks

Now that we are aware of the most common cyber risks, let’s explore how they are created and how to protect our operations from any of them.

Malware, or malicious software, is one of the most popular forms of cyberattack; it is made by hackers who want to break into hardware, and it usually works by tricking the victim into downloading an infected file onto their computer or other device. The majority of malware is distributed by email, so if you ever download any, you could end up with

1. Trojans: These can disguise themselves as normal software on your computer, easily tricking users and stealing information or causing damage.
2. Ransomware: It encrypts all of the affected users’ files, and in order to unencrypt them, the user must pay a ransom.
3. Virus: This program spreads malicious code throughout the system.
4. Spyware: It is a program that records everything you do on your computer and then uses that information, including passwords and sensitive data.

We’ll now briefly discuss the frauds that use the aforementioned viruses more frequently. Most of them fall into the social engineering category. Social engineering is a type of deception where someone uses manipulation, lies, or other means to get you to do something or give them information. For example, an attacker may pose as a customer service representative and trick you into giving them your password. They may also try to get you to click on a malicious link in an email that appears to be from a trusted source.

1. Do you know what phishing is?

In this case, the attackers want you to download a file or click a link that will install a type of malware in your device. Typically, phishing is used to steal your information and ask for money to return it to you. This type of attack is made via emails that appear to be from a known company, typically banks or government institutions.

2. The service denial assault is one of the more frequent attacks on businesses

The cybercriminal ‘s goal in this instance is to exploit vulnerabilities in order to bring down your software or network, making it hard for it to meet the needs of your staff or clients and making your day-to-day operations a misery.

3. SQL code injection

This attack uses data to identify vulnerabilities in specific apps, install malicious code, and steal confidential information from the device.

4. Chat scams

Cybercriminals are experts at starting conversations in order to steal information. In the United States, for example, cybercrime frequently begins on online dating sites.

What might a cyber attack mean for your business?

First always, it’s important to address the internal losses that might result from a type of cyber assault. If all the company’s computer systems are blocked, all of its operations may become paralyzed, costing you money and time. The financial repercussions can be disastrous if we also take into account the potential of information theft and blackmail.

The harm caused by a cyber attack might also have an impact on other persons, such as customers or suppliers who trusted the company with their data. Legal actions and other major issues, such as losing clients’ trust or a brand image crisis that your marketing team will need to address, can result from losing that information.

How to improve cyber security in your home or company?

We’ll tell you! The main thing, as we mentioned in this entry’s introduction is to educate the final users, meaning you, your family members or employees must have clear cyber security practices that are key to avoid a big future headache. You should have a cyber defense strategy.

When you and your team are capacitated on the basics of cyber security, make sure to get in contact with professionals that provide you with orientation in the proper installation of network security software, they will analyze the computers and other Internet of Things (IoT) devices and detect malicious code, beginning a process to eradicate this code.

In order for information security programs to function, it is mandatory to keep them updated and automatically working all the time that a computer or equipment is working.

Now, we’ll give you a practical guide to defend yourself from cyber threats, here is a compilation of our best advice:

1. Update the operative system / software: It is fundamental for you to keep the latest versions, given that these ones come with updates that protect your devices from common cyber threats.
2. Forget about public Wi-Fi networks: These are the malicious hacker’s favorite ways to steal your information. When you connect to a public Wi-Fi network your devices and information become vulnerable.
3. Use safe and strong passwords: It might sound obvious, but it is frequent to find users who use the same password for several accounts. The best thing you can do is use the password generator from your navigator, these are very difficult to decipher, keep the most relevant ones in a safe place and don’t forget to activate the verification in two steps for the majority of your account.
4. Always, use an antivirus: This paid softwares are worth the investment for your team and company, they will inform you about any attacks and will immediately delete any malware that penetrates your device, remember that this software has to be periodically updated too.
5. Maintain yourself alert with emails: It is important that you as well as all your team is aware not to open files or links in suspicious mails, how to recognize those? In the first place, these emails seem to be from local entities or banks, check the email address, usually, official entities have their own domain for the mail, which an attacker won’t be able to have, for example: empresa@govcr.com is an email address that could belong to a governmental organization, on the other hand, empresagovcr@gmail.com probably does not belong to an official company, nevertheless, this is not enough, you should revise the writing on the mail, verify that it looks and feel professional, was the mail sent in work hours?You should also remember that banking companies or other professional enterprises don’t usually send links or downloadable files, unless you request them, hence, avoid opening a link or file you have not asked for. We should also remind you that these type of scam mails have an urgency or promotion tone that can make it hard to ignore, but their goal is to catch your attention, so leave them behind. The best thing to do is call the entity to verify any information and alert them about this issue.
6. When a fraudulent email arrives in your inbox, it is critical to report it to the authorities and the company involved so that appropriate action can be taken and potential scam victims are alerted.
7. Protect your network with VPN services: this is critical when it comes to protecting your digital assets because with this good security tool, you can connect to the internet without intermediaries who can encrypt your communications; additionally, your connection speed improves and you will be able to avoid geographic barriers that block certain contents in your country.
8. Use WPA2 in your Wi-Fi network: this ciphering helps to improve security while also improving the performance of your Wi-Fi, giving you more speed. If you don’t employ these authentication protocols, any user could access your network, making them essential to maintaining network security.
9. Back up your data: Backing up your data is important in case your original files are lost or corrupted. Backups can be stored on an external hard drive, a USB drive or in the cloud.

Cybersecurity advancements

Cyber security technologies also advance in step with cybercrimes, offering improvements that help users not only in terms of security but also in terms of new ways to utilize technology.

1. Zero trust

A cybersecurity procedure that gives IT teams complete control over every user who accesses the network, allowing them to manage individual permissions, the user’s online behavior, and the quantity of information they may access. This enables the security staff to exert more control over the company and ensure that every user is following the necessary cyber security precautions.

2. Passwordless

Biometric technologies are being developed and these intend to replace passwords in organizations to avoid unauthorized access to sensitive information from external people.

3. Artificial intelligence

This technology allows you to accelerate the dedication and possible cyber security threats, detecting abnormal behaviors and offering quick and adequate answers to specific situations, avoiding long analysis processes from the IT teams.

4. Cloud Security

Maintaining information secure in the cloud allows companies to work easily in hybrid or remote modalities; nevertheless, this transition has generated and accelerated development of technologies and protocols to have security on the cloud. At Access Point, we are experts in cloud, data security, and data storage, managing wide data bases with massive amounts of clients. Schedule an appointment with us if this topic concerns you!

5. Endpoint security

it is a term for security measures that are applied to devices that connect to a network, such as laptops, desktop computers, smartphones and other devices. The goal of endpoint security is to protect these devices from being compromised by malware, cyber attackers or hackers. Endpoint security includes both hardware and software solutions, such as firewalls, antivirus software and intrusion detection systems.

6. Data encryption

More technologies around file encryption will be developed, with the means of protecting information and data. The most sensitive industries like the finances will be developing special and unique technologies for the industry.

So now that you have more knowledge on cybersecurity and its relevance nowadays, remember that every day more organizations need to start to seriously invest in a cybersecurity strategy and data protection. In Access Point we have the right team, and enterprise security products and services prepared to protect your digital critical infrastructure from cyber threats. Don’t hesitate in scheduling an appointment with us and let’s establish the right cybersecurity protocols for your company.

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