Biggest Network Security Mistakes to Avoid

What are the most frequent network and data security mistakes? Well, some of them are obvious, like poor passwords, while other errors are less so, including the lack of a robust security plan covering networks, devices, and data protection.

A security plan is more than just peace of mind that you’re doing the right thing. It’s the roadmap for protecting your network and customer data. Can you put security off for now? No. While you may be lucky and not fall victim to cybercrime straight away, you are certainly increasing your odds that your systems will be hacked at some stage.

What are some of the threats?

Threats

There are many cybersecurity threats to avoid, including:

• Fast-moving worms
• AI-aided Ransomware
• Sophisticated Spearphishing
• Mobile App Fraud

Plus, there are many more data security threats to your business. See the full list here.

Mistakes

The list of mistakes made that increase the odds of your systems being compromised by cybercrime include:

Poor Use of Passwords and no MFA

Passwords may seem like the most obvious way in the world of protecting your digital assets. Still, unfortunately, too many businesses are not using them properly – or not putting them in place when they are desperately needed.

You should also ensure that you are using strong passwords that combine letters, numbers, and characters. Not only this, but they also need to all be changed periodically.

At the same time, do not automatically assume that everybody needs to have the passwords to each item of software or file.

Ultimately, you should only give access as and when it is strictly needed. Plus, always use multi-factor authentication.

Not Using Digital Asset Management

Digital asset management (DAM) may seem like one of those tech terms that is quite opaque, but you must understand it fully. Rather than going into much detail here, you can check out this detailed guide for a lot more information.

Lack of Knowledge

One of the biggest mistakes in the world of network security is simply having a lack of knowledge. While it may not be necessary for everybody at your organization to know everything about network security, you need to ensure that you have people in the know.

As well as having knowledge of current best practices, they also need to be able to keep up with all of the changes that are being made.

This is simply down to the fact that an ever-changing array of viruses, spyware, and phishing attacks can impact modern companies.

There is some knowledge that is important for everybody at your organization to know about. For example, they should be able to identify a common email phishing scam.

Hackers are working on making them more devious and deceptive than ever before, which is why it is so important that proper training is given to ensure that people are not falling into some of the common traps that they leave. There are also ads on the internet inviting people to click through.

The right ad-block software can defend against this particular threat. However, many breaches that occur at a business happen due to human error. This is undoubtedly a fact worth bearing firmly in mind so that you can minimize the risk of this happening at your own company.

Not Backing Up Your Files

Again, it may seem like some of the points that we are making in this blog post are self-explanatory, but there are simply too many people who are not doing the basics well enough.

Ultimately, you need to get into good habits concerning backing up your most important files.

For example, create backups regularly and not simply overwrite them with the next set of backups. You should also aim to keep copies and keep them offsite in case they are needed.

Again, it is imperative to stress that it should only be trusted members of staff who are given copies of any essential documents. It is generally better to keep everything in one place as this minimizes the number of areas that can be hacked.

Failing to Update

When programs are constantly asking to be updated, this can appear to be frustrating and unnecessary. However, this could not be farther from the truth.

When they are requesting these changes, they are needed – and this is often from a security point of view. If you have spent money on all this antivirus software and firewalls, but you are simply not keeping it all updated, it is all too easy for it not to work effectively.

Some hackers anticipate that people will not make all of the necessary updates and target their attacks based on this fact.

Not Using Encryption

Many businesses do not make the most of encryption as they simply do not understand what it is all about. This is important in all sorts of different areas, such as dealing with internet banking.

If you store and transfer data unencrypted, you may also be posting it out there for everybody in the world to see and access.

While you may not understand encryption tech to its fullest degree yourself, there is certainly nothing stopping you from employing a specialist who can take care of it for you.

Trying to Do Everything Yourself

While you may only run a small business and would like to keep all of your costs as low as possible, there is simply no point in trying to do everything yourself if you do not have the necessary skills.

Commit to investing in professional security support and services to get the right plan and systems to avoid being a victim of cybercrime.

Summing Up

Start out with a robust security plan and use best practices to avoid making common errors that threaten your business. Cybercriminals don’t stop working for anything. During the pandemic lockdowns, phishing and other cybercrime was up and costing companies billions.