5 Ways Your Organization is Helping Hackers

Do you know how crucial cybersecurity is? Any company in any industry needs to realize that cybersecurity is important. Without prevention, you may be setting yourself up for network hacking in the near future.

These five reasons are some of the many ways organizations are risking their network’s security:

1. Your company/staff uses weak passwords.

Weak passwords or easy security questions is one major reason why networks and personal accounts get hacked into. This is because accounts with weak passwords are much more prone to being broken into. Check out our past post on password security for some tips on creating GOOD passwords.

The same goes for networks. When it comes to an organization network or any network for that matter, never mess around with simple passwords. It is a wise idea to have your employees change their network password at least every 90 days. In fact, Version Enterprise’s 2016 Data Breach Investigations Report found that a whopping 63 percent of data breaches were due to weak passwords.

2. People in your organization don’t understand the risk of hackers.

Trust is a great thing to have but not when it comes to the security of your organization’s critical data. Many are aware that hacking exists even in what is a deemed a secured network. However, many presume that something like hacking is rare, easy to avoid, and not bound to happen to their organization.

According to Statista:

• In 2017 there were over 1,500 breaches, resulting in approximately 180 million confidential records being exposed.
• Since 2015, the number of data breaches has been dramatically increasing.
• More than any other sector (e.g., education, finance), businesses are at a heavy risk for hacking.
• Even major, secure platforms such as Yahoo have experienced breaches.

3. All employees have unrestricted access, and ex-employees still have access.

Allowing every employee unrestricted access to your organization’s network or even allowing employees no longer associated with the company to still have access are both big mistakes.

The greater the number of individuals who have access to your company’s network – especially unrestrictedly – the more likely one of your employees or ex-employees will come across malware or viruses that could result in hacking.

For that reason, terminated employees should not have access. Additionally, restricting and monitoring current employees will ensure optimal safety.

4. You haven’t properly trained staff to be cautious online.

All employees apart of an organization, big or small, should have training in cybersecurity. This includes:

• Creating strong passwords that they won’t share with others.
• Avoiding links or e-mails that contain suspicious information.
• Not downloading unauthorized or unlicensed software.

A great chunk of breaches that occur happen because one or more employees are unaware of how to keep their company’s network and data safe. You need to provide best practices training regularly to give your organization the best chance to stay secure.

To reduce the chances of this problem, there are many free training courses and online resources to turn to, to help you educate your employees regarding cybersecurity.

5. You aren’t using cybersecurity methods for extra protection.

If you think your “secured network” is secure as is, you’re already placing your organization on hackers’ radars. You may not be aware that there are extra protective barriers for your network. Our cybersecurity crew at Savant Solutions can help make that happen for you.

While extra security isn’t free, every cent is worth it. Not only do you get peace of mind, you get all the protection. Afterall, a breach will cost more (money-wise, brand recognition-wise, etc.) than extra cybersecurity will. If you don’t have the proper security and safety measures in place, your organization will be further to blame if the hacking of confidential data does occur, and you can potentially get fined. For that reason, play it safe.

Contact our team today for more information on how we can secure your confidential data and network.