Cyber security hygiene

Is cyber security at the top of your to-do list? Probably not. Should it be? Almost certainly, yes.

Cyber makes the headlines every day. It can often seem overwhelming and the temptation to do nothing is real.

Philip Abrie, Technical Director, talks through the three biggest areas of basic cyber hygiene you should be applying:

Software updates

We all know that they are annoying, but when your computer prompts you should run an update. Or better still, ask ILUX to do it for you out of hours, you then know that it is safe and secure.

Passwords

The biggest threat to cyber safety is your human layer and their passwords:

☒ Don’t use obvious ones such as children’s names, pet names or birthdays. Avoid any personal information in a password

☒ Don’t ever give your password to anyone, including us

☒ Never write down passwords

☒ Use a unique password for each account

🗹 Use a random password generator, or passphrases with upper-case and lower-case letters, and special characters

🗹 Embrace multi-factor authentication

🗹 Use a password manager

Awareness of social engineering (i.e. people asking too many questions!)

🗹 Be aware of anyone trying to get personal information from you, especially by piecemeal

🗹 Look carefully at emails that don’t feel right:

• The sender’s address
• Discrepancies in the writing format
• Spelling and grammar issues
• Link destination
• Attachments
• Logo

🗹 Watch out for urgency, emotion and unexpected money

☒ If you’re not sure – stop, think, check (Google for details or pick up the phone)

How can we help?

There’s a lot to assess and it can be complicated. It takes time, resources and a good deal of thought and effort. Keeping track of everything, identifying gaps can be time-consuming and you may not have the expertise (or interest!) to do this cost-effectively.

Keep one step ahead and let ILUX take the strain.