Did you know that an attack by a cyber hacker occurs every 39 seconds? This demonstrates how important it is to protect your company’s data, especially by taking back-up measures. At Axiom Solutions, we understand data protection more than most!
Something as simple as implementing complex passwords, is the new standard in keeping your business’s information safe and it shocking how often businesses maintain simple passwords! That’s why we want to share the top things you should know about data protection in order to thwart hackers.
How Data Backup Helps Fight Hackers
Data Backups allow you to backup and/or restore all of your critical data in various physical or virtual locations aside from your data storage. Experts recommend using the Backup 3-2-1 Rule, which suggests using three copies of protection for your data in two different formats and one off-site backup(like what we offer you at Axiom!) This means that two copies would be physical and one in the cloud, for optimal backup from hackers.If you are unsure of what physical and virtual forms of backup you can and should use to safeguard your data, here are some of the most tried and true options:
- Cloud storage
- Departmental or institution server
- External hard drives
- Hard drives on personal or work computers
Luckily for our customers, we have an offsite backup program, Remedy, available for all of your data backup needs. Remedy can be installed on any Workstation, Laptop, Server (physical or VM) regardless of the operating system. We will manage all of your backups, send daily email reports and automatically remediate any issues so you have nothing to worry about!
Data hacking is more common than ever. Large companies from Target to Facebook have experienced hacker attacks. Image backups using our Remedy service enables you to fight against or recover from this kind of attack quickly. It’s really important to act quickly but also correctly, or else you could make your hacker problem worse!
The Use of Password Protection To Avoid Hackers
Passwords are the most common form of personal identification when it comes to accessing our phones, computers, websites, social media accounts, and much more. For most online systems and software, a password is the primary barrier keeping hackers from accessing personal, sensitive data. As we mentioned, many of the top companies have been breached by cyber threats, resulting in millions of users’ passwords being compromised. Hackers easily access these passwords because we tend to reuse them across many different platforms.
Have you ever tried to create a password for a website and it says your proposed password is “weak?” This is a supportive measure to help customers practice better password protection so they aren’t an easy target.
What is the best way to protect your data from hackers? Password protection is the key. Here are a few ways to use better protect your passwords:
- Choose a unique, longer, and complex password – 8 or more characters. Also, avoid using common words or word variations found in the dictionary that are easy for a hacker to use– this is called “dictionary attacks.”
- Use a next generation firewall or UTM appliance to avoid keyloggers that transfer your information to third parties, and a password manager that will autofill passwords and prevent keyloggers from gaining access.
- Implement an account lockout policy that will lock the account after a few failed login attempts until an administrator unlocks it.
- Avoid responding or giving out personal information or consent to phishing emails that look suspicious.
- Consider using a secure password management system across your organization, like Keeper, to improve password storage and password sharing. We will be happy to implement these password management platforms on your behalf and be your source of training and support. These secure platforms encrypt your data locally and use multi-factor authentication.
Lastly, be sure to use a managed antivirus solution, or have us add-on this service to your account. We will monitor any suspicious activity and avoid harmful downloads on your devices.
If any of this information raises questions about your own devices or how to implement these practices, we’d be honored to help you. In fact, you can back up your systems with our remote back up service now. Don’t wait to take proactive steps! Reach out.