As the holiday season approaches, it’s not just the physical world you need to keep safe from potential threats. The digital realm is equally, if not more, vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
Whether it’s online shopping, booking holiday trips or sending festive greetings, our online activities surge during this time, making it a prime target for malicious actors to exploit hackers and take advantage of unsuspecting shoppers.
Keep the gimmicks out of gifting this year and avoid cybercriminals with secure shopping practices and proactive business precautions. General Informatics is here to provide you with some quick tips to ensure you have a cyber-safe holiday season!
Make sure to use strong unique passwords
Having a strong, unique password is one of the easiest ways for you to strengthen your cybersecurity. To go the extra mile, consider enabling a two-factor authentication method.
Stay ahead of device updates
Keeping your devices updated to the latest version will protect your information from vulnerabilities leveraged by malicious actors.
Shop safe and shop smart
Be sure you are shopping from secure and reliable websites. Look for ‘https’ in the URL you are shopping on; this means that the connection between your browser and website is encrypted and safe to use.
Keep a close eye on your bank statements
Monitor your bank statements for any suspicious activity and unfamiliar transactions. Opt in to enable text or email alerts from your bank so you can quicky catch any fraudulent activity.
Install a reliable security software
Microsoft Defender is free anti-malware software included with Windows, and it’s kept updated automatically through Windows Update.
It is important to keep your personal information safe during the holiday season, but it is equally as important to keep your professional information safe too. Keep reading for additional precautionary measures you can take to solidify the safety of your sensitive business data.
Encrypt all sensitive data
This includes credit card information, customer addresses, and anything else that could be used to commit fraud or identity theft. By encrypting this data, you make it much harder for cybercriminals to access it even if they do manage to breach your system.
Educate your employees
The leading cause of a cyber-attack is human error. Your employees are your first line of defense against cybercrime. Make sure your staff is trained in identifying emerging threats and knows not to click on unknown links or attachments. Prepare ahead of time with regular security training and have a clear process in place for incident response and reporting.
Back up critical data regularly
If your system is breached, you’ll want to have a backup of all critical data so you can quickly restore operations. This includes customer data, financial records, and anything else that would be difficult or impossible to recreate. In the event your company is targeted by ransomware, having sufficient backup data is critical to avoid greater financial loss
