Archives for September 2018

As the skills and audacity of cyber criminals increase, so do the threats that they pose to business owners. While massive breaches at big corporations such as Target may lead the headlines, hackers are certainly not only interested in large corporations. That being said, all business owners should take cyber security seriously. However, not all organizations can afford their own in-house security teams. If you are not entirely confident in your systems’ defenses against cyber threats, it’s probably time to consider hiring a cyber security consultant. Here are some of the top reasons to have one of these professionals working for you.

Prevent Possible Attacks
Utilizing the right cyber security consulting services will help to prevent possible attacks on your company’s website, software programs, and IT infrastructure. If an issue does occur, a security consultant can likely mitigate it before it increases in severity. But do take caution while hiring the professional. Check their qualification and expertise. It might be better to do some background checks of the candidate in question with the help of https://checkr.com/background-check or similar agencies.

Enhance Your Staff
A cyber security expert will help to educate your current employees and broaden their horizons when working with IT security. Once the consultant has completed the job, your workforce will benefit by continuing to implement his/her efforts with the new security practices that were established.

Save Money
According to a report from Kaspersky Lab, the average cost of a data breach for small and medium-sized businesses in 2017 was $117,000. While you may not have the means to hire an employee to oversee your company’s cyber defense around-the-clock, a cyber security consultant can still help to keep your company’s information secure and avoid costly data breaches.

Governments and businesses continue to be the target of cyber criminals attempting to steal confidential and proprietary information, such as credit card information, health information or corporate secrets. After an attack, companies and agencies are left struggling to determine and explain just how their data was stolen or compromised. As they work to recover, cyber security experts use these events to emphasize the importance of being prepared for a cyber attack.  The one area that continues to be a key concern is creating strong passwords. While everyone knows the importance of this, it is still surprising just how many users remain to use “1234” as a password.

To increase cyber security and help protect you or your company’s digital identity, here are some tips on creating effective passwords:

• Use both alphanumeric and special characters
• Do not base your password on information that is publicly known (i.e., your birthday or spouse’s name)
• Use an untraditional combination of words that only you would remember
• Do not use the same password across multiple programs or websites
• Do not write down your password

Cyber security solution providers know that weak passwords are largely to blame for online security breaches. Hackers have access to a number of tools, such as dictionary-based systems, that are effective in cracking weak passwords. A secure password, however, is one that a hacker cannot easily guess or crack using software tools. While keeping to the tips listed above may seem inconvenient, doing so can protect you and your company or agency from facing extremely compromising situations in the future.