3 Easy Ways to Improve Cyber Security

Cyber security is a growing concern for organizations of all sizes as the prevalence of cyber attacks rises. An attack can cause costly disruptions to daily operations, compromise customer or internal data, and damage brand reputation. Fortunately, many cyber attacks are preventable: by having an up-to-date antivirus subscription, using multifactor authentication, checking the sending address in emails, and leaving unexpected attachments unopened, you can reduce the risk of an attack.

3 helpful tips to easily improve your company’s cyber security:

1. Implement a mail banner to indicate email sources, such as external emails or suspected spam. Some phishing attempts are quite sophisticated and suspicious emails can easily be missed as people are busy going about their day. Implementing a mail banner (typically through your email provider’s exchange administration portal) that flags potentially malicious emails, is an easy way to help decrease the likelihood of being the victims of a phishing attempt.

2. Don’t open large email attachments. Large attachments (over 25MB is a good rule of thumb), often bypass antivirus scans which makes them risky. If you need to receive files over 25MBs, ask the sender to utilize a service like Dropbox or GoogleDrive to help keep you safe.

3. Have a backup schedule, even of cloud systems. Backup your servers, file storage systems, online systems, email, and anything else that would be detrimental to your business to lose. While this may not prevent cyber attackers from being successful, it helps to greatly reduce the potential damage they can cause on your business. Don’t forget to test backups every now and again too.

Implementing practices like these can help you avoid considerable downtime from potential cyber attacks.

Kelowna Software, recently named as a finalist for Small Business of the Year in the CanadianSME National Business Awards presented by Google, is an Okanagan-based tech company that specializes in IT consulting, web design, and software development. Their team of experts has over 120 years of experience and is focused on finding solutions and creating value for all their customers. If you have questions about how to improve your cybersecurity or need help implementing some of these tips, visit kelownasoftware.com.

Contributed by: Matthew McInnis, Director of Customer Development, Kelowna Software

Email: mmcinnis@kelownasoftware.com