These days, protecting your company from cybersecurity threats is a necessity. Just ask Target, Home Depot, and Equifax, what it is like to have the entire world know that you messed up and your company got hacked, losing millions of dollars of data, customer numbers and contact information, and the public trust.
It pays in the 21st century to ensure that your cyber security is safe and sound. Not sure if you have all of the tools you need to protect your company? We have some suggestions for the best cyber security tools on the market, which is good news, but the even better news is that most of them are free.
Account breaches
First, check and make sure that you haven’t had your accounts taken over by a third party (called pwning). You can check to make sure your account information hasn’t fallen victim to thieves using the website Have I Been Pwned, which has running lists of all the email addresses and other data taken during all sorts of security breaches, but most specifically high-profile breaches, such as the ones at Target, Yahoo and Home Depot.
You will be able to search for your email address, and if it was found in a security breach, a red warning appears, which lets you know what was taken in the hack and telling you to change your passwords. You can also sign up for notifications of future breaches using the same system. The website featured almost 5 million hacked email accounts and over 230 hacked websites.
Test the strength of your passwords
As a result of all of the recent security hacks, there are many online tools that allow businesses and people to double check the strength of their passwords. However, you need to be very careful when checking your passwords, because some of these websites are nearly fronts to grab your name and passwords from you under the guise of security. Be sure that you find a password checker application that has an encryption tool for your information, or there’s no one telling who you’re giving your information to.
Ensure your security software is working
Not sure your security software is working? You need to check, sooner rather than later, because if your first indication of trouble is a malware problem or infection — you’re too late. The Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization has a check you can use to make sure your system is safe against malware. The site offers six tests to check for malware issues. Four of the tests involve checking for holes in your security using downloading a file that should be automatically blocked, so if your malware program lets one through — you need a better malware program.
You can get cybersecurity solutions to protect your business. Security is one of the most important aspects of any organization. Business security can only be ensured by the use of software which should be updated and can save your precious data from breaches and attacks.
Test your firewall for weaknesses
While your firewall is supposed to be unobtrusive, you need to make sure it is running properly to screen out cybersecurity threats. You can use a free port scanner online called GRC ShieldsUP, which can check your Common Ports, which are the most vulnerable, or All Service Ports, which takes a little longer because there are over 1000 ports. If your ports are all green or blue, your ports are secure, but if you get red ports, you need to go in and close them.
Update your plugins
Even the best-known programs with lots of security, such as Java, Adobe Reader, and Flash can have security holes, because they are so popular, puts your data at risk, so you can use a tool such as QualysBrowserCheck to scan your browser and all of its plugin to figure out versions of the programs that are outdated, and any other security issues. The program allows you to immediately fix the problems if you notice some of the results are marked “insecure” or “update available” for updates. This test can work with whichever browser you use.
Check your Facebook Security
A lot of companies use Facebook to promote its business, and Facebook has had its share of issues with hacking, especially during the 2016 election by Russian hackers. If you go to Facebook, you can determine whether your company profile is still logged in to Facebook on a browser or an app. The security features recently beefed up by Facebook allow you to set alerts to receive notification via email if your account is accessed from a different browser or device, which will act as a brake on hacking.
Test your own security knowledge
Finally, you need to test your own security knowledge, because inevitably, the hacking begins and ends with how much you understand about security, and the use of security tools to make sure your business as hacker-proof as possible. There are tons of quizzes online that helps you to make sure you are aware of the latest in online threats, such as OpenDNS Phishing Quiz and BT Security Savvy Test.
Taking quizzes isn’t enough though. You need to constantly review your settings, read up on hacking problems, malware, and spyware because if you are sitting in the boss’ chair, you need to do everything you can to protect the integrity of your business. These days, the web and social media act like gatekeepers for your business. While you want to advertise your business as much as possible, you also want to make sure your business is protected from cyber threats.
Luckily for you, there are lots of free tools you can use to constantly check your network, devices, social media and servers for threats to your security without it hitting you hard in the wallet. This is perhaps the best news of all for a business owner who is always looking to save money.
