We just completed our annual Security Awareness Training here at Quanexus. This is an important reminder for all our employees of the security standards we maintain to keep our data, and in turn, our clients’ data safe. Even though we work in this industry every day, we follow our layered security approach and conduct an annual training. Below are some high level points to think about in IT Security this year. As always, users can be your biggest asset or your biggest liability when keeping data safe.
- Hacking: In the small to medium sized business sector, hackers are not seeking out companies to attack. Instead, they have automated tools scanning the web looking for vulnerabilities. When a vulnerability is found by one of these tools, the hacker is notified and gets to work on stealing data. Our job is to put tools in place to not be the low hanging fruit for these hackers.
- Connectivity: We are experiencing many aspects of our life connected to the internet in some way. Computers in cars, wireless power meters, and in home virtual assistants like Amazon Alexa or Google Home. These tools are making it easier to access information, but they are also creating new vulnerabilities that we haven’t had to deal with before. We need to continue to be aware of the risks this new technology presents to keep our data safe.
- Passwords: Password management has never been more important. Passwords should be 25 characters long and contain at least one letter, one number, and one symbol. The words used in passwords should not be in the dictionary. Users should not re-use passwords for other platforms. We know password management is a pain and, in some cases, can reduce productivity in companies. There are password management tools we can advise you on to help.
- Phishing: This year we saw some high profile data breaches that originated from Phishing. We also saw the rise of Spear Phishing, the act of targeting a single user instead of blanketed email attacks. As always, we remind users not to click on links in emails. Instead go to the source of the email by typing the site into your web browser, call the person on the phone, or talk to them in person if they work in your office. Issues to look for in a Phishing email are bad grammar, a call to action that plays on your emotions, and the senders email address. If it is coming from a free email address, or something that looks suspect, it’s probably a Phishing email.
Security Awareness Training is one of the layers in our Q-Stack. Quanexus uses a layered security approach to protect our clients’ data. We abide by our own system and conduct training annually as we advise our clients to do. Contact us today if you have questions on how you can implement our layered security approach.
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