A Guide to Reducing Tech Debt in 2024
By Sunil Thomas, SVP of SLED East Organizations are always looking for ways to improve efficiency and growth by using the latest technology. However, when...
According to IBM’s X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2018, inadvertent insiders (employees who are unknowingly the root cause of a security incident through their unaware or negligent actions) were responsible for more than two-thirds of total records compromised in 2017 – with security incidents on the rise as a result of these inadvertent insider actions. As we enter a new year, SDI offers the following 2019 Cybersecurity Resolutions to minimize cyber risk from an internal employee perspective:
1. Keep your devices physically secure.
– Make a note of all IT equipment serial numbers to enable reporting if stolen.
2. Keep all your software and operating systems up-to-date and running.
– Check for OS, web browser, and antivirus updates each week
– Make sure the firewall on your machine is enabled
3. Safely store and share your data.
– Don’t keep unnecessary data on your local device — take advantage of corporate share sites to store data in a secure and encrypted location whenever possible
– No un-encrypted flash drives!
– Share links vs attached documents when possible
– Use an IT-department designated content collaboration/file sharing/sync solution to securely share large files (25MB+)
4. Maintain a strong first line of defense: password management.
– Lockdown screen settings and proactively lock your machine/session when you leave your workspace
– Select strong and long passwords
– Use a password manager (such as LastPass or 1Password)
– Choose two-factor authentication
5. Take the time to be wary of potential email phishing attacks.
If you don’t know the sender or the URL is suspicious (hover over a link to reveal its URL):
– Don’t open the email
– Don’t click on links
– And *REALLY* don’t send user/passwords or financial info. Trusted vendors will never ask for this information via email.
6. Apply a strong cybersecurity posture across all devices.
– Secure your smartphones (set a lock password), tablets and home computers/networks used for your organization’s business
– Don’t use open/public wifi networks
– Enable Lost Mode in device geo-location services (ie: Find My iPhone) to assist in finding/locking down lost devices
7. Practice safe web browsing.
– Interact only with reputable/secured (https) websites
– Be conservative with online downloads – don’t install unnecessary applications or apps
8. Don’t become complacent about cybersecurity.
– Always assume you’re continually under attack from outside threats (because in this day and age – you are!)
– Never let your guard down!
SDI Presence offers cyber vulnerability assessments and remediation services to address the different technologies, devices, and data impacted by a cyber breach. SDI’s cyber remediation teams are certified in leading industry technologies (MS, Cisco, Oracle) and NIST-based remediation best practices to quickly identify and contain breaches and restore operations.
Contact SDI to launch the SDI cyber team within your organization.