Do you practice cybersecurity hygiene? No doubt it has been a critical component of an information security program. In fact, it’s one of the best cybersecurity practices.
Well, washing our hands and brushing our teeth is vital to our personal hygiene. So, we can think of the same way for our computer systems and processes.
Cybersecurity hygiene includes password updates and software patches. And these are critical to preventing data loss, identity theft, or breaches.
How to Build Up a Cybersecurity Hygiene Routine
Keep in Mind That Someone Has an Interest in Your Personal Information
Be aware that there are criminals out there who are targeting your personal information. And it’s the first step towards ideal cyber hygiene.
So be mindful of what information you share online. But, if you need to, make sure that you share it with a trusted source or secure website.
Be Suspicious to All Emails
Why is it important to treat all emails with suspicion? Well, in most cases, malware infections are caused by malware that arrived through emails.
Besides, these messages are part of phishing campaigns. But what does it do? Usually, it asks the recipient to download an attachment.
However, opening that attachment will offload malware on your computer. Other messages ask you to click on a link leading to malware.
Moreover, these messages appear to be from trusted sources, but they’re not. So, be mindful of what links you click or attachments you download.
Maintaining Caution While Browsing the Net
There are countless unproductive sites considered to be the home of malware. In fact, some of them don’t ask for permission to download.
They also prompt unsuspecting users to download infected apps or software. That will then opens the gateway for infection.
So, what can you do? Well, stay away from sites that host harmful as well as illegal content. When you visit a site, look for the ‘lock’ icon located before their domain name.
Practice Social Media Hygiene
This is an essential subset of cybersecurity hygiene. Why? You might strike up a friendship with a cybercriminal using a fake user profile. Additionally, you might unwittingly share important personal information.
Moreover, the nature of social media allows cybercriminals to target users. Especially in innovative and effective ways.
Making It Long Term
- Developing a cybersecurity hygiene policy. This is necessary to ensure that your organization remains safe.
- Educating employees across departments. Employee training is very important in preventing malware infiltration. Of course, humans make mistakes. But, with the right skills and training, mistakes can be minimized.
- Limiting access to your assets. Limit the access to your vital network to verified systems administrators only. In effect, employees can’t accidentally inflect your secure network.
- Put up walls and create backups. You can add another layer of security by using encryption and VPNs. Encryption complement the process of backing up files to secure critical assets. On the other hand, a firewall serves as a barrier. Thus, blocking the free flow of malicious content.
- Washing your files. It refers to the use of antivirus and antimalware software.
