HomeMy WebLinkAbout7 simple security tipsSeven Simple Cyber Security Tips
According to a recent SolarWinds° study, untrained employees are noted as the largest threat at federal
agencies (53%).
Create Strong Passwords
Make your password at least 12 characters long, include numbers, symbols, and capital letters and avoid
patterns like "123456" or "qwerty."
FACT: The most common password is "123456" and can be cracked in less than a second.'
Practice Password Hygiene
Do not share your password...with anyone! Change it on a regular 90 -day basis and, where possible,
avoid using the same security questions across multiple sites.
FACT: More than 1 billion passwords are already stored in a Russian database."
Keep Your Inbox Safe
Enable email scanning by your anti-virus, don't trust attachments, disable automatic previewing, and
never respond to email requests for personal or company account information.
FACT: 91% of advanced cyber -attacks begin with email.'
Don't Share Important Info
Double-check the "send to" field before sending emails to the wrong person, and if you are a repeat
offender—or know of one in the business—deactivate autofill in Microsoft° Outlook®: File - Options -
Mail - Send Messages.
FACT: 78% of those surveyed admitted accidentally sending an email to the wrong recipient.'
Keep Security in Mind
Develop a simple plan for employees to follow if there is a potential security risk identified. It's
everyone's responsibility to share potential mistakes openly within the company. By doing so, you will
shorten time between a breach and a fix. More importantly, you can proactively plan for problems.
FACT: Organizations without security awareness programs report security incident costs to be 4x higher
than their peers"
Keep Your Devices Secure
Apply encryption to PCs and USB drives and encourage employees to keep devices with them. Keep
patches current by enabling "Auto Update" across Microsoft Windows-based devices and common 3rd -
party add-ons such as Acrobat®, JavaTM, and Flash°—as these are common malware infection vectors.
FACT: According to a recent survey, half of the respondents indicated that data on employee or
contractor personal computers and removable storage is most at risk (47%).x'
Audit Who Has Access
Regularly evaluate responsibilities and access to sensitive data. If roles change, ensure only those
employees that "need to know" have access by adding credential reviews to your HR process and always
verify 3rd -party access and security.
FACT: Privilege abuse is cited as the most frequent form of insider misuse (>80% of the 11,000 incidents
reported), so monitor and verify privileged use."
Footnotes:
Content from Solarwinds: 7 Simple Cyber Security Tips
http://wpengine.com/unmasked/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/technology/russian-gang-said-to-amass-more-than-a-billion-
stolen-internet-credentials.html? r=0
"' Trend Micro research 2012
http://www.howdesign.com/article/emailmistakes/
PWC US State of Cybercrime Survey 2014
V' http://www.slideshare.net/SolarWinds/solar-winds-it-security-survey-report-2015-final
"" http://www.verizonenterprise.com/DBIR/2014/