Cyber Security Tips for the Workplace

Cyber security is a topic that’s always cropping up in the business world; the dangers, the risks and how to protect data. In a modern office - especially with the increasing number of offices going paperless - cyber security should be of high importance with almost all data and work stored and completed digitally.

In support of Nation Cyber Security Awareness Month, happening throughout October, we’ve put together some tips and advice to ensure your workplace is cyber-secure.

“It probably won’t happen to me.”

Wrong - it could. Reading news about hackers and cyber-crimes can be shocking, but people often come away from the articles with the attitude of doubting it will happen to them, and so little or no action is taken. However it’s important to always be aware that it could happen to your workplace, whether it’s a spam-attack or extremely-costly fraudulent activity; it can happen to anyone.

Ensure that your employees are aware of the risks, communicate and set guidelines on cyber security rules. Have regular meetings which assess what’s in place, whether it’s working, and if more needs to be done to keep the company safe.

Senior staff members should also be vigilant when using technology, as they’re likely to be easy targets, holding large amounts valuable information which if accessed, could be costly and damaging.

Any threat - no matter what size - is a serious one, so ensure all employees are aware of the risks.

Passwords are important

Passwords protect everything, so ensuring all devices - from laptops to photocopiers - have passwords is a good idea to protect them from harm. The passwords should be strong and not easily guessable. Avoid using company, department or employees names in the passwords and choose something obscure but memorable for those who use them to avoid any difficulty or confusion.

Encourage employees to lock devices when away from them and, while using the same password for everything may be easier, differing them slightly from account to account, device to device will be beneficial and extra secure.

Scan & back-up

Make computer scans a regular occurrence, having a reliable and thorough anti-virus programme installed on all devices. Again, make employees aware of dangers and how to use these programmes to ensure they’re kept free of threats and malware.

Make sure data is regularly backed-up on external storage devices to again safeguard data. This way, if a cyber-attack were to occur, not all is lost and data is still accessible.

Email caution

Your email account (either business or personal) is an easy target for malware, so pay extra attention to potential threats here. If a sender-address looks dodgy, look into it before opening anything to ensure it’s legitimate, and be cautious when opening attachments and clicking links, as one wrong turn could give a cyber-criminal access to your entire computer.

For more information on National Cyber Security Awareness Month, take a look at their website.

Laura Sewell

An aspiring journalist, Laura is our Content Writer.  Pop-punk gig-goer and drag queen enthusiast, Laura is working her way into the industry with a love of writing about anything and everything in tow.