10 rules to prevent cyber attacks

14.02.2020

Alexander Guzun

Мій бізнес

In 2016-2017, Ukraine received the status of a “testing ground” for testing modern means of conducting cyber warfare. Cybercriminals attacked financial institutions, power plants, and transport infrastructure. What is the Petya virus that covered our country in June 2017? How to protect yourself from cyberattacks, says Alexander Guzun, senior lawyer at Antika Law Firm.

Anyone can become the object of a hacker attack. The business implications of an invasion of cybercriminals can be disastrous, both in terms of material and reputational losses.
So, a few years ago, a company – a giant in the hotel business – after identifying attempts to unauthorized access to a database that kept records of reservations made by customers, found out that unauthorized access to this database has existed for more than two years. In an official statement on the website, the company said that as a result of this incident, more than 350 million booking entries were compromised. The company itself received a fine of more than 95 million pounds.
Another impressive case concerns the giant of the airline market, which also suffered a cyber attack several years ago. Its result was the theft of information about more than 350 thousand transactions related to booking tickets. As a result – a fine of more than 150 million pounds.
These situations are a prime example of the fact that a company of any level can become a victim of cybercriminals. If they managed to attack powerful giants, then small and medium-sized businesses will be able even more so. If not for stealing valuable information or “pumping out” money, then for improving hacking skills.
To protect your business from cyber attacks, you should take maximum measures for cybersecurity. You will say that it is expensive. Not at all. There are quite simple rules and recommendations that will help with this. Even UN Global Cybersecurity expert Mark Goodman recommends following them.
Turn off computers if you are not using them. This reduces the threat, because criminals cannot “get” into the computer if it is turned off and not connected to the Internet. In addition, you should turn off services and connections in your smartphone when they are not in use. WI-FI support, for example, always provides additional attack capabilities that thieves can use to hack a phone, spread malware, and steal data.
A strong password is one of the key factors for protecting accounts. Passwords must be long (20 characters or more) – contain upper and lower case letters, as well as characters and spaces. They should also be changed frequently. And in no case should you use the same password for several different sites.
Regularly update software, especially browsers, plug-ins, media players. Failure to update the software makes devices open to attack.
Download software only from official sites. Avoid unofficial stores, applications, and third-party sites that host “free” software.
Be careful with all emails. Be extremely careful with any suggestion to click on the link or open the file added in the letter.
Back up your data more often. It is advisable to have several physical disks for backup and make sure that at least one of them is stored outside the workplace so that during a natural disaster or fire, the backup is in a safe and secure place.
Be careful with USB drives – this is one of the most commonly used methods for spreading malware and computer viruses. The U.S. Department of Defense generally prohibited employees from using them. You cannot connect flash drives to the device without first scanning for viruses.
Close the camcorder lenses carefully. Hackers easily get access to all cameras connected to the Internet – on a computer, smartphone, tablet.
Confidential views – whether banking operations, or purchases during shopping should be carried out only on your own device and on a network that is trustworthy.
Always use a password on mobile phones.
So, following these simple rules can prevent cyber attacks and business losses.