Introduction
Cyber security is the protection of information and digital assets from being compromised, stolen or lost. Organization information and digital assets can be compromised, stolen or lost through an insider or an outsider.
Cyber security is a challenge for small, medium and large enterprises. However, small and medium enterprises are at a bigger risk as they more often lack inhouse full-time Information Technologists to monitor their information systems, data storage, processing, back-up and retrieval.
Cyber-attacks may be perpetrated through different ways as business operations and processes go digital. Any business or person who uses the internet and they have valuable information in their computer or phone is at risk. This write-up informs how business owners may be at risk, and how to become cyber secure.
How you may be at risk
Not having antivirus
Anti-virus software protects the computers and phones from malware and viruses and having your data stolen, locked or corrupted.
Not having users and passwords
Passwords help in ensuring that only authorized users can access the computer/information system. If the computer does not have a password, then any one can access data and information stored in the computer/information system.
Not updating installed software
The software providers release updated versions of the software installed in the computers and phones. Mostly the user will get a prompt to update the installed software with an option to ‘install now ‘or ‘remind me later’ many users see this as an inconvenience and chose the latter. Working on an outdated version of a software means the user is not getting services and protection features which leaves the user vulnerable to cyber-attack.
Opening links on email before hovering the cursor to read the link
Most phishing (a specific type of spam that attempts to get information such as credit card details, usernames and passwords) emails will have links directing you to other websites disguised as legit business. It is always good to hover the cursor over a link as this will reveal the whole link name before clicking on it.
Remember password
Once you key in your username and password when logging into an information system, the site will prompt you to indicate ‘remember password’ or ‘never’. A number of people do not pay attention to the question and some sites automatically chose ‘remember password’. If the computer is used by more than one person, then the information is at risk and at the mercy of the moral-standing of the next user of the computer who will find out that your account is still logged-in. The best and secure option is to choose ‘never remember password’.
Public wi-fi
Many restaurants, airports and other public places are nowadays providing free access wi-fi that for the convenience of their customers. However, the convenience afforded to customers has also provided a lee way for hackers who infiltrate the public wi-fi and can easily connect to the devices connected to such public wi-fi. The best protection is not to use public wi-fi, as much as possible use your own internet connection.
Not-backing up
Information in the computers and information system is updated daily and therefore backing up of data and information should be carried out at least once daily. Backing up can be done online or through external hard drives.
So to be cyber secure, at a minimum:
- Have up-to-date antivirus software.
- Have distinct users and strong passwords.
- Update your installed software’s regularly.
- Before opening links check the link (one way is to check that the link starts with https the ‘S’ at the end means the site is protected by a secure signature and hence your data is secure. In addition, check the website e.g. genuine kra website is https://kra.go.ke a fake one may look like https://krq.go.ke please note the ‘a’ in KRA has been replaced with a lowercase ‘q’, genuine Equity Bank site is https://equitybank.com a fake one may look like https://equltybank.com please note the ‘i’ has been replaced with a lowercase ‘L’.
- Never opt to remember password.
- Avoid public wi-fi.
- Back-up regularly.