In 2024, there’s more data than ever before being exchanged on the internet (think billions of gigabytes) reflecting the enormous scale of daily online activity of users around the world.
Unless you live a Wi-Fi-less life, you and your coworkers are likely included in that number, which means you’re sharing a large amount of private and sensitive data with companies and other users on a regular basis.
As such, cybersecurity measures such as 2FA (two-factor authentication) are hugely important when it comes to safeguarding confidential company information. But this isn’t the only way to protect your privacy and in this post we’ll discuss some of the best ways to keep your data safe.
Company Security Best Practices
To improve your threat intelligence and keep employee and customer data safe at a time when cybersecurity attacks are prevalent and there are more ways than ever before to swipe confidential data, you need to be at the top of your game.
Encourage the use of strong passwords
As you might imagine, it’s much easier for cybercriminals to target individual employees than it is for entire organizations. As such, one of the best actions you can take to protect company data is to educate your staff on best practices.
The use of strong passwords is paramount these days to deter cybercriminals from hacking your employees’ accounts to release sensitive data. If you have a varied tech stack at your company, it’s worth considering password management tools like LastPass which offer a secure way to share access to tools with your team.
Regularly update software
Cybercriminals will often look for patterns and trends that they can exploit. By updating all of your company software, applications, and any devices your team uses, you can protect against known vulnerabilities that they might be able to exploit.
Stick to secure connections
If members of your team often work outside the office, which is increasingly common these days, remind them to stick to secure Wi-Fi connections. Connecting to unstable connections in public is one of the worst things you can do as these unsecured networks are more easily exploited by bad agents.
Implement Multi-Factor Authentication
Back inside the office, one of the best things you can do to secure user data is implement multi-factor authentication (MFA). This process requires users to jump through several hoops to gain access to systems, meaning there are several extra layers of security in place to deter cybercriminals.
Unlike two-factor authentication (2FA), which has you enter your password and enter a code that may have been sent to your phone, multi-factor authentication adds in an extra step which could be something like a fingerprint.
Think of it like this: even if someone learns the password to gain entry to one of your company systems, with MFA in place they would still be a long way from gaining access.
To implement MFA in your company, you’d need to choose and set up several authentication methods which could include:
- Biometric scans
- One-time passcodes
- Hardware tokens
For minimal interference to your employees, you could make a significant improvement to your security protocols.
Outsource to IT teams
If you want the best protections for your company against cyber attacks, but don’t know where to start or worry about making costly errors, you can outsource the work to outside IT teams or cybersecurity experts.
This way, you can rest assured that you’ll get the best cybersecurity solutions for your specific needs along with set-up and any necessary maintenance work.
Some of the tasks you could outsource could be:
- Risk assessments
- MFA implementation
- Ongoing cybersecurity protocols monitoring
Deferring to specialists can be a wise move if you’re keen to drastically mitigate the risks of data breaches and virtual threats.
Set up a VPN
A VPN (virtual private network) is an excellent solution to secure your employees’ internet connection through encryption which makes it exceedingly difficult for cybercriminals or other third parties to access your company data.
With a VPN in place, your employees will be able to securely access your company network and any online resources you host wherever they are. A VPN adds an extra layer of security for remote workers who may not always have access to the best and most secure Wi-Fi connections.
Bolstering your Cybersecurity Measures for Peace of Mind
To thoroughly safeguard your company data, you need to adopt a multifaceted approach that goes beyond just setting up 2FA for employees.
Implementing important measures such as strong password, MFA, and a VPN can help protect your confidential information and preserve your clients’ sensitive data.
