While it's impossible to entirely eliminate the threat of malicious activity, here are five things you can do to escape the notice of hackers and minimise the risk of becoming another statistic.
1. Perform regular software updates
Systems that aren't updated on a regular basis can reveal security holes that are particularly vulnerable to hackers. To stay protected, be sure to set your computers to receive automatic software updates and install them regularly, especially for operating systems, virus protection and web browsers. Note: if you are unsure how a particular update will affect your system, do some research online before testing it.
2. Run a network penetration test
Because all hacking attempts occur at an entry point in a system, doing a penetration test to identify vulnerable areas in your network will assist you in fortifying your business against both external and internal threats. Penetration tests are usually performed by a team of IT experts using a combination of automated tools as well as real-life experience, so pick your testers carefully to ensure they have the right credentials for the job.
3. Clean up your code
Hackers are skilled at finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in website source code. As such, experts recommend that you:
- Remove all user comments and names from your code as these can give enough clues to allow hackers to crack into your site.
- Prevent SQL injection attacks by locking down your database and only allowing appropriate values to be returned by a database website query.
- Remove or change all test, sample and default pages that come with web server applications.
4. Always use strong passwords
Perhaps not surprisingly, 80 per cent of cyber-attacks revolve around weak or stolen credentials. Fortunately, creating strong passwords is one of the simplest ways to protect your business against hackers. Good passwords should be at least eight characters long, should not contain a complete word and should include a combination of alphanumeric characters and symbols. Some experts recommend changing passwords as frequently as once a month.
5. Create a user-awareness campaign
Your organisation can have the best security policies in the world, but they won't do much good if people aren't aware of them. Get your employees on board with an ongoing security-awareness campaign and make sure they understand the importance of good security practices, for instance, with periodic quizzes or simulated phishing emails.
With hacking techniques becoming more sophisticated each day, businesses everywhere can no longer look away when it comes to protecting their security. By being proactive and following these and other steps, you can go a long way in helping your business escape the watchful eye of hackers.
