Misconfigured options and outdated software are probably the most common attack vectors that allow bad actors to take over small business computer assets. By trying out these simple tips, business owners can help to protect themselves against many common types of maladies.

Never Store Passwords In The Clear

Password managers are normally safe when used properly, but you shouldn’t allow staffers to store their passwords in a regular file on their devices. Doing so greatly increases the chance of someone seizing control of your organization’s network and potentially collecting loads of sensitive information.

Practice Good Account Hygiene

Computer scientists have long been urging people to reset passwords whenever there’s a risk that they could have been compromised. Make sure that all staffers replace any credentials that could have been exposed online.

Work With Information Technology Professionals

Representatives from local IT service providers can dedicate themselves to paying attention to every single type of cyberattack that could potentially impact a particular platform. As a result, working with such an organization can take much of the stress out of regular digital chores.

Remove Old Network Accounts

Chances are that your business has at least one service account that was created for an employee or customer you no longer work with. Close each of these out when they first become surplus so that outsiders can’t gain access to them. Quite a few major data breaches started when someone realized that they could get into a system that they wouldn’t have otherwise had the privilege to log into.

Run Regular System Sweeps

Personal computers and mobile devices need to undergo regular virus scans to ensure that they haven’t been compromised. Unix machines might appear impervious to these kinds of attacks at first, but they should still get checked for worms and any other maladies that they could potentially pass to other devices attached to the same network.

Use Plain Text Whenever Possible

Conventional plain text flat files can store information without giving bad actors the freedom to embed macros or other active content in them. That helps to reduce the risk of the kind of drive-by attacks that often happen when loading up a file stored in a richer document format.

Disable Unused Features

Most software has more features than anyone would ever need to use. Turn off control codes, video integration services, and just about anything else that seems like it wouldn’t be useful in your particular use case. Disabling these options reduces the overall attack surface exposed by individual programs.

Tweak Every Firewall Setting

Packaged firewall solutions usually have solid defaults, but it’s still a good idea to go over them before deploying any program in the wild. This could potentially help to stop outside connections that might have otherwise jacked into sensitive parts of a cloud storage network or even a computer’s boot drive.

Taking just a few moments to put these ideas into play today can help to save a substantial amount of time in the future.

Published by: Holy Minoza