Cyber security has 3 basic components that are all very important and worth investing in, especially for businesses that depend on computers for day to day operations. A well-rounded cyber security plan includes these things:
- Education
- Prevention
- Detection
Investing in all three of these components will likely help keep you or your business from falling prey to a cyber attack.
Education
Knowing what to do and what to look for is the first step in making sure your personal information and communications stay secure on the internet. Investing in just a little bit of education for you and your employees can go a long way in stopping cyber crime before it even happens.
By knowing the basics about what types of files you should and should not be running or downloading, what websites are safe to visit, and how to tell if the sender of an email or instant message is legitimate, you can stop the vast majority of cyber attacks. Giving everyone at a company basic training on how cyber security works, and common methods that criminals will try to use, can be extremely helpful.
Prevention
The ability to prevent a cyber attack starts with education, but it doesn’t end there. You need to have systems such as anti-virus software and firewalls in place in order to protect your computers from hackers and other cyber criminals. A good anti-virus program should be installed on all of your computers that can actively protect the computer against a cyber attack, and scan files and emails as they come to the computer to make sure that they are not hiding a virus within them.
If you can stop a cyber attack before it happens, you won’t suffer any lasting damage. Trying to clean up a cyber attack after it occurs can be time consuming and expensive. It is best to avoid it completely if possible with the proper preventative measures.
Detection
When a virus or other unauthorized program does get past an anti-virus program, it is important to have programs in place to notice what is happening and be able to take care of the problem. These virus detection tools are different from anti-virus programs since they are not actively trying to prevent viruses from getting to the computer, instead, they scan the computer when needed and can report back with anything they find.
If there is something amiss, the program should be able to immediately remove it without much of a problem. Keeping these programs updated is also important since viruses and hacker programs are constantly changing, meaning an update from 6 months ago may not be able to detect and eliminate a virus that was released onto the internet last week. It is also a good idea to hire qualified employees, who ideally have an information security masters, to ensure the business runs smoothly and remains secure.
