Cyber protection & safety tips

Safeguard your business from cyber threats.

Here are our best cyber protection tips.

We’re more dependent than ever on technology as the world of work embraces working from home. But with this shift in the way we work and interact comes a greater risk of cyber threat.

More people communicating online means it’s much easier for cybercriminals to access protected information. And while IT and operations teams are working overtime to keep our networks running, the up-spike in online threats sometimes affects their ability to detect suspicious activity quickly.

This makes protecting your confidential information more challenging than ever.

Cyber protection insurance is a relatively new form of cover. It’s designed to help protect your business from the financial impact of computer hacking or data breach.

Who needs cyber protection insurance?

If your business has a website or electronic records, you’re vulnerable to cyber hackers.

In fact, your business will likely suffer a cyberattack at some stage—and if you don’t prepare, it could cost you more than money.

Cyber attacks can also threaten your intellectual property and put customers’ personal and sensitive information at risk—which could ultimately damage your reputation.

 

The industries most at risk are:

Doctors

Lawyers

Solicitors

Clothes Shop

Financial Planners

Optometrists

Dentist

Accountants

Cafes

Restaurants

Hotels

Bars

Company IP & Designs

Hospitals

Medical Centres

Aged Care

Nursing Homes

Childcare

Cloud Storage

Medium Enterprises

Data Farms

Bookkeepers

Virtual Offices

Free Wi-Fi Spots

Petrol Stations

Physiotherapists

Large Enterprises

10 cyber safety tips to help prevent a cyberattack

Yours doesn’t have to be a risky business. Prevention is the best defence against potential cyber threats.
Follow these 10 tips to keep your business cyber safe in a changing world:

Prepare for potential IT resourcing issues.

When more people connect remotely, technology call centres can face higher volumes and resource overload, leading to slower response times. It can also test your network bandwidth, data storage, and computing power. Prepare a plan to reallocate resources as necessary to keep you safer from potential attacks. Recognise your dependency on resources may continue to increase.

Keep your network, software, and applications up to date.

Remote access technologies are vulnerable—cybercriminals exploit this weak link to access protected and sensitive information. Make sure you update all your software and apps regularly and patch any weaknesses you identify.

Align your resources before incidents occur.

Set aligned business continuity plans, disaster recovery teams, and cyber incident response in place. Cybercriminals know network dependency and availability are higher when people access it remotely, choosing that time to strike.

Review existing policies and closely monitor security exceptions.

When your IT resources are stretched, you may need to make exceptions to your standard security policies or practices to ensure business continuity. Implement a thorough review process to ensure you closely monitor and solve such exceptions, including your work from home policies.

Use multi-factor authentication now.

If you haven’t set up multi-factor authentication for logins, now is the time to do it. Traditional user login and password accounts are easy for bad actors to hack, and with more team members logging in remotely, there are more potential entry points than ever. Multi-factor authentication requires at least two authenticating factors or proofs of identity before a user can access protected data, giving you a second line of defence against criminal activity.

Only connect via a secure network.

When connected to a public network, someone else can access any information you share online or via a mobile app. Always use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to encrypt your activity. Most organisations provide a VPN to their employees to ensure secure, remote access for work use, and personal VPN accounts are available from various service providers. While working remotely, you should limit access via personal devices to encrypted company VPN channels.

Strong passwords are the foundation of sound online security.

Most use the same or similar password for everything, even between work and home. Unfortunately, this means hackers can reuse a single stolen password on multiple sites to unlock dozens of accounts. Use password management software to create strong, unique passwords and help you remember them.

Only click on trusted links, open attachments, and download software.

Cyberthreats often masquerade malicious links as an informative resource. Once clicked, they can deliver access to an individual’s or organisation’s private info and/or freeze their computers or networks. Never click on a link you’re unsure of—head to the company website via a browser instead.

Verify website URLs before sharing confidential information.

Beware fake websites where the URL and homepage look like sites you trust—such as your healthcare provider, bank, or email provider. Never follow an email link—type the URL in yourself. Also, make sure the site you visit has HTTPS in the URL; these sites are more secure than those with HTTP.

Don’t respond to requests for sensitive info from unknown sources.

Cybercriminals can pretend to be someone you know to convince you to share confidential info. Take extra time to verify who you’re sharing information with—there’s no need to rush. Be sure they’re who they say they are and, if in doubt, don’t respond.

Don’t fall prey to cyberattacks.

Ask us to assist in addressing your cyber risk and insurance needs today.