This Was the First Full Week of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM)!
As per cisa.gov, this week's topic is “If You Connect It, Protect It.” While networks, like the internet, are amazing tools that allow us to connect devices and share information between them, they are also security risks as the other devices you connect to can be malicious. Don't panic! With a bit of awareness and a few tools, it's easy keep your devices safe.
If a device is connected to a network, it needs antivirus software to monitor for malicious activity and to remove the sneaky software. Lighthouse IT Solutions recommends Sophos for all your devices, whether they are on your home or business network. For devices on your home network you can find the free or premium version for Sophos Home here.
Another excellent resource for protecting devices on a network is a firewall. This puts a monitor/filter between the device and the network it is connected to. You can use this to stop certain types or all traffic from passing through your device. This is ideal for isolating a device if it or the network it is connected to is compromised.
Of course, while having antivirus in place will certainly help to detect and remove malware, it is best to try and avoid letting any malware get on your devices in the first place. Prevention begins with attention, or more specifically, you paying attention. In many cases websites, emails, etc. that are trying to trick you into downloading malware do so by disguising themselves as legitimate, but there are often discrepancies or errors within them that can serve as warning signs if you can notice them. The specific action of malicious content disguising itself as legitimate is known as 'phishing'. Learn more about phishing here. In short, urgency is the easiest red flag to spot. If an email is trying to get you to do something quickly, they are probably trying to make you forgo any sort of rationalization you could have, ultimately spotting the scam.
Is your network up-to-code?
Our Secure-IT Cyber Smart Assessment is a self-assessment of your network! You can fill it out be yourself to understand if your company's network has any major issues, but we can help guide you through the assessment this entire month! Because all this tech stuff can be a bit confusing, we want to guide you through so that you can learn what everything is and truly understand the thing your company relies on every hour of every day. Again, your network is only as strong as its weakest link, and that weak point is almost never obvious.
Start learning how to better secure your company!
(No forms, just click to download!)