Cybersecurity Awareness Month Checklist is here for you. This week’s topic: Be Cyber Smart.
October is the month IT security specialists focus on Cybersecurity Awareness, and each week has a different topic. Your top IP support company, INSI, located in Marietta and Atlanta GA is bringing you weekly tips. For the week of October 4th – 8th, the topic is Be Cyber Smart. This particular topic is to help raise public awareness of how to take personal responsibility for online security measures. To help in this effort, INSI has put together a short checklist to help small businesses secure their network.
End-Use Cybersecurity Awareness Checklist
Your end-users are your biggest risk to your sensitive data. This 6-step end-user cybersecurity checklist provides the basic information you will need to protect your data.
- Perform background checks on every employee to ensure they do not have a criminal history for theft, fraud, or cybercriminal activity.
2. Train your employees and yourself on how to identify phishing, smishing, and spear-phishing emails.
3. Restrict the website your employees can visit, such as pornography, certain social media websites, shopping sites, etc.
4. Enforce a password policy and provide a password vault for your employees to store their passwords.
5. Install antivirus and spam filtering on each PC and antivirus on cell phones.
Network Cybersecurity Checklist
Cyberhackers are more sophisticated than ever before. For example, they are often the first to purchase firewalls and servers to find their weaknesses. That’s why it is very important to follow the network cybersecurity checklist listed below to protect your data and maintain a high level of cybersecurity awareness.
- 1. Ensure the network devices and servers are under warranty, operating systems are current, and updates are current.
2. Perform quarterly onsite preventive maintenance to secure physical access to and in the security room
3. Install Remote Monitoring and Management on each network device and Desktop Monitoring for each PC.
4. Implement a reliable asset tracking system
5. Immediately terminate hired or resigned employees from the system and limit mobile access to the network
6. Tighten administrative privileges to two people
7. Perform offsite backups regularly
8. Secure all connections
9. Write an incident/breach response plan
10. Hire cybersecurity experts to assess, manage, and maintain programs for your most significant risks.
Get the Help You Need in Cybersecurity Awareness
This cybersecurity checklist is the first step to help you get started on a secure network and have a higher level of cybersecurity awareness. However, it is not specific to each companies’ industry or risk. Therefore, a great way to understand your company’s risk is to do a Risk Assessment or get an INSI Secure-IT package. At INSI we have sixteen cybersecurity programs covering everything from spam filtering to 24/7 monitoring, response, and resolution. If you would like to know more about our programs, call us at 770-387-2424 Option 2.
About INSI
For over 25 years, Innovative Network Systems (INSI) has offered an integrated approach to IT support and cybersecurity for small and medium-sized businesses in the Atlanta area. Their 100% local, college-educated, and experienced engineers provide a range of services from basic monitoring to fully Managed IT services. The INSI IT model gives their clients the exact level and type of service they want while also providing greater accountability and reduced ongoing IT support costs. INSI options include cloud, cybersecurity, backups, cabling, wireless, business phones, and much more.
About the Author
Deborah Frazier is the author of IT Outsourcing Secrets – A Small Business Guide to Compare IT Support Companies. With nearly 20-years’ experience consulting small and medium-sized businesses on their IT support needs, she brings a wealth of knowledge to INSI as Head of Marketing and Sales. If you like this article and would like to get notified when a new article is posted, click here.
