5 Ways to Improve Your Cyber Security that Every business should know

March 16, 2023

Introduction

The gift of technology has mostly been a boon for the world, but it has birthed a challenging obstacle that people across the globe grapple to overcome. You guessed it right: cyber security.

Unfortunately, Australia saw the worst of what lax cyber security measures could do to a country in September 2022, with its Optus and Medibank hiatus.

With that said, Australians have learned their lesson and are now awakening to the need to bolster their digital setups with better security.

A survey highlights that 32% of Aussie business decision-makers believe that cybersecurity is the most major challenge they expect to face in 2023. The same survey also highlights that 37% wish to prioritize cyber security measures in their systems.

In fact, there are several highly effective, low-cost ways recommended by the best IT-managed service companies that can help you reinforce the integrity of your digital systems. Let’s find out what these are.

What Can You Do to Improve Cyber Security?

Did you know that between 2020 and 2022, 203,306 cybercrime reports were submitted to ACSC?

There are five things you can do to protect yourself from potential cyber threats:

1. Get to Know About MFA

MFA stands for multifactor authentication. It is one of the more robust forms of security layers that you can add to your account on any app. It has a simple mechanism too:

• The first factor in the authentication of your credentials is the user ID and password you provide.
• The second factor is generated in real-time, like a Time Password, which is a more independent form of ascertaining the identity of the user who is trying to log in.

Since this mode of verification consists of two factors for authentication, it is also called 2FA. It can be inbuilt into the system during custom software development.

2. How to Use SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for Securing Inboxes?

SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are security mechanisms used to protect you from phishing and other harmful emails.

• SPF (Sender Framework Policy): Every email sent by a business to a recipient comes from the servers the business is registered on. SPF helps cross-check that these emails indeed originated with the business and not through a suspicious impersonator.
• DKIM (Domain Keys Identified Mail): DKIM works like your own signature works on a chequebook. Every email is cryptographically signed with the business’s digital signature, which can be mathematically verified to authenticate its origination.
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance): This security mechanism is like the gatekeeper to your inbox. Depending on whether the SPF and DKIM authentications were successful, the DMARC can reject emails, quarantine them, or you can specify what actions to take.

You can take the help of an IT-managed service company to set this up for you.

3. Implementing Conditional Access Policy: Can This Secure Your Website Data?

If you are a website owner, you can build in certain pre-screens to restrict the audience that can access your website in Australia.

For example, if you wish to protect your website data from a potential cyber threat originating in Thailand, you could request your IT-managed services to build a website access restriction for the traffic incoming from that country.

4. Conduct User Awareness Training

Training your personnel to be aware of potential threats, anomalies, and patterns is a crucial step you can take to fortify your cybersecurity.

The Australian Cyber Security Centre provides Guidelines for Personnel Security that are meant for training personnel in cyber security.

5. Are Regular Backups of Any Help?

Backing up data is the most underrated activity for maintaining cyber security, but it is that much more important. Data, being digital, can get lost or corrupted because of a variety of reasons, like physical damage to machinery or server problems.

To ensure that the information you own doesn’t get completely lost, making scheduled backups for your data should be included in your cybersecurity protocol.

Wrapping Up

At the end of the day, it is your preparedness to face potential cyber threats that will help you save the integrity of your systems and keep the data protected.

The five methods listed above are extremely easy to implement, especially when partnering with a reputed IT-managed services company like Technowand.

Technowand helps you maintain the security of all your digital systems through our IT-managed services. These services also cover website development, including cutting-edge security mechanisms that use the latest encryptions and protocols to ensure your operations are always shielded from hackers.

To know the full scope of the security impact that Technowand can bring to your business, get in touch with us.