Author: Sheryl Wright

CyberSecurity, Data Security

How to Secure Your Personal Computer Docs & Data

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Computers are amazing things. However, despite the benefits of computers and the internet, using them involves some inherent risks. There are threats like hackers, malware, viruses, cybercriminals, and more that wish to do you harm. You could even have your most personal information stolen. Thankfully, there are strategies you can use to secure the documents and data you have stored on your personal computer. 

Encryption 

One of the best and most fail-proof methods of protecting both computer documents and data is encryption. Encryption can be thought of as a way of scrambling data. It uses an encoding process that transforms data into a form that prevents it from being read as it previously was. If data remains encrypted, it is impossible to tell what that data originally contained. This can be reversed through the process of decryption, but only if you have the encryption key. Without that key, typically a password, unlocking that data again will be impossible. If you want to protect your data and documents, encryption is your best bet. Even if the data is stolen, it cannot be decrypted without the key. There are programs you can use to encrypt specific files or even entire drives. Overall, it’s the highest form of data security that exists. 

Cloud Backup 

Malware and viruses can corrupt and destroy files and data. In fact, you can even lose those files without any malicious actor intervening. If your home is hit by a lightning strike, the power surge could erase all the data stored on your PC’s hard drive. One local copy of an important file or document is never enough. You should expect that data to be lost at any point. One way to prevent data loss completely is to create offsite backups through a cloud host. Unlike traditional hosting, cloud computing involves the use of a shared server infrastructure that utilizes data redundancy and makes it virtually impossible to lose data forever on accident. Even if you lose your own files on your PC, your backups in the cloud will remain and can be quickly restored back to your computer. This is also the security choice of corporate America as 90 percent of companies implement online backup. 

Legal Document Management System 

Certain computer files are more important than others. Of all your files, the most important probably are legal documents concerning your family, finances, and obligations to the government. This can include things like a birth certificate, living will, marriage license, deed to a house, and more. In the past, all of these would only exist as paper documents and be stored somewhere in a file cabinet or safe deposit box. Today, it makes sense to keep digital copies of such important documents as well due to how intertwined modern life has become with the digital world. Keeping a digital version may also be a good idea in case the paper versions are somehow lost or destroyed since such documents are very hard to replace. Something you should use to help store, protect and manage these documents is a legal document management system. The best legal document management system should be cloud-powered and have an interface that will allow you to categorize and tag your documents so they can be easily found when needed even by a loved one if something were to happen to you. 

Malware and Virus Scanner 

Another piece of software you should take advantage of is a malware and virus scanner. If you really want to protect your data, you should be running one at all times on your computer. While running in the background, the software can scan incoming files from the internet for threats. Quite often, people only download things like malware or viruses on accident. They may be hidden within email attachments or file downloads where you cannot see them. If you can scan those files before they are allowed onto your hard drive, you can protect your computer from those threats. Make sure you have instant updating of the software switched on as well. New digital threats are introduced every day, and the software needs to be updated to know exactly what to look for. 

Overall, you can’t be lax when it comes to protecting your important documents and data on your personal computer or any other device for that matter. Bad things can happen. Whether you accidentally download malware, get targeted by identity thieves, or simply experience a power surge after a thunderstorm, those files can be put at risk. Protect them through tools like encryption, cloud backup, a legal document management system, and a malware and virus scanner. 

CyberSecurity

Why Cyber Security Is Integral for eCommerce Success

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Why Cyber Security Is Integral for eCommerce Success

There’s a lot of money to be made in e-commerce. This is demonstrated by the fact that online shopping continues to expand even while other sectors of the economy do not. However, operating an e-commerce business is extremely different from running a brick-and-mortar store. Unlike brick and mortar operations, many of the biggest threats to your business may be completely invisible to you and originate from thousands of miles away. If you want to succeed in e-commerce, cybersecurity is absolutely integral to your business’s long-term survival.

Your Customers Could Be Targeted

While upholding high standards for cybersecurity is important for any business, it is even more important for companies that sell goods and services over the internet. These businesses are especially at risk of having sensitive data connected to customer accounts and transactions accessed and leaked after a security breach. When this happens, the results can be disastrous. Your customers could be defrauded of thousands or even millions of dollars after their identities are stolen using this information. After that occurs, you may end up on the receiving end of a class-action lawsuit. If you did not uphold high cybersecurity standards in your company, you will likely be found negligent in court and be forced to pay out large sums of money for the damage that was done by those hackers and cybercriminals. Your business may not be able to survive the fallout. The average cost of a business-targeted hack is $200,000.

You Need to Have a Cyber Security Framework in Place

Unfortunately, most business owners lack the expertise to institute working cybersecurity protocols for their own businesses. That is understandable. The technology and software in question is extremely complex and requires a high level of technical expertise and knowledge to understand and operate. This is why you should consider implementing the NIST cybersecurity framework when developing your cybersecurity programs instead of going about it on your own. NIST stands for National Institute of Standards and Technology. The NIST is part of the US Department of Commerce and helps to create standards, regulations, measurements, and more for the benefit of technological advancement in the United States in both regards to the government as well as American businesses.

In regards to your own business, using the NIST cybersecurity framework can be extremely advantageous due to the functions it provides for your company. NIST CSF functions should include the ability to better identify potential gaps in your own network, systems, and assets that could lead to a security breach. The system can allow you to better protect the confidentiality of sensitive data. It can allow you to detect threats in real time and allow you immediately respond to cybersecurity events before they cause significant damage. It can allow you to immediately restore any services or capabilities after such an event as well. You will be able to much better weather any kind of security event, intrusion, or attack.

You Could Lose Your Credibility as a Business

Business relationships of any kind involve a great deal of trust to maintain. The relationships customers build with the businesses they purchase products or services from indeed involve a good amount of trust. Those customers trust that they will receive what they pay for without any unexpected negative consequences. After a significant hack, this trust can quickly evaporate. Consumers may assume it is too risky to even visit your online store to make a purchase. The same can be said of other companies you do business with. Vendors, suppliers, and other partners expect that you will run a professional operation in which the sensitive data they share with you will not be leaked to bad actors. If that trust is broken, it could lead to the loss of business relationships you need to compete in your market.

Overall, you don’t really have a choice when it comes to whether or not you should place a strong emphasis on cybersecurity for your e-commerce business. If you don’t, you will certainly be targeted by hackers and cybercriminals. The results of that negligence could be disastrous for your company. If you want to survive in the long term, implementing strong cybersecurity protocols is an absolute necessity. Consider integrating the NIST cybersecurity framework and other measures to ensure that your company is protected.

CyberSecurity

Why Governments Should Invest in Cybersecurity

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Cybersecurity is on the minds of every decision-maker in major organizations on the planet. Digital transformation, identity transformation, zero-trust security, and identity and access management are terms you hear talked about by IT and C suite level professionals all the time.

It is not just the private sector that is concerned about cybersecurity. The government also is investing in cybersecurity. There are several reasons why this investment is a must.

Cybersecurity Threats Are Increasing

Cybersecurity threats are increasing at a rate that has never been seen before. One reason for these increases is the changes in work environments due to the COVID-19 pandemic. More government employees are working from home than ever before. Bad actors are taking advantage of the fact that people are working from home to breach their systems, thereby gaining access to government systems.

Cyber attacks are not being carried out by just a random person in their basement. There are government organizations that are actively backing cyber attacks against other governments. These cyber-attacks have led to lost information, disruption of utilities, and potential national security breaches.

Cybercrime not only means big money for cybercriminals, but it is also giving them away to strike at major government organizations they would not be able to attack otherwise. The financial and reputational consequences of data breaches on governments are difficult to calculate. It is expected that the number of cyberattacks that target the government will rise drastically over the next few years.

This will lead to loss of productivity, theft of intellectual property, fraud, government disruption, and hacked data. This is why governments must invest in cybersecurity.

Cyber Attacks Are Increasing in Severity

It is not just the number of cyber attacks that are growing in intensity. It is also the degree of attacks. They are becoming progressively more destructive and impacting greater attack vectors.

It is not just government institutions that are at risk. Politicians are at risk. In the 2016 election, one of the biggest talking points was that one of the candidate’s emails was hacked and became front-page news during her presidential campaign. This is just one example of politicians who have access to sensitive information becoming the victims of cybercriminals.

Webmethods is one of several platforms designed to help government agencies secure important data while simultaneously allowing those with the right provisions to access data when and where they need it. It allows governments to leverage information to improve service levels. It allows increased transparency between agencies and improves digital and online services.

The threat posed by cyber attacks on the government has not been lost on those tasked with keeping the country safe. In 2018, the chief of homeland security said that cybersecurity was the biggest threat the country faced. In that same year, the government released a defense policy bill that focused on cybersecurity. It called for stronger security measures to protect against cyber threats.

In 2020, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act. According to this act, the US Department of Homeland Security will appoint cybersecurity coordinators for each state. The thought behind this is that state governments need to have the same protection and cybersecurity coordination as seen in federal governments. Unfortunately, state governments lack the know-how and the financial resources to secure their cyber landscape adequately.

Is Cybersecurity Important for Governments?

The answer is unquestionable: yes. The private sector is investing billions of dollars every year in cybersecurity because they know that it impacts customer trust. Governments are doing the same thing because they want to increase the trust and confidence of their constituents.

Recently, ransomware brought the flow of gas the certain parts of the United States to a halt. The result was that gas prices skyrocketed to a level that has never been seen before. There was panic, fear, and frustration. The news was full of images of people hoarding gasoline. There were gas stations with signs on the pumps declaring that they were out of gas. It was an unprecedented and harrowing situation.

Conclusion

Cybersecurity is a must for governments. If governments do not immediately take steps to improve security awareness and shore up cybersecurity vulnerabilities, the results for the governments and their constituents could be catastrophic.