Michael Joseph Pertuit cyber-security and consumer electronics guides right now? Subscribing to a cloud service lets you hand over data-security duties to a company that specializes in handling these things. It’s also an easy way for employees to retrieve data remotely, although you should definitely control and limit access to the cloud account. Cloud services can monitor employee Internet use. But also be aware that you can’t just sit back and relax when you have a cloud service — they won’t make you invincible. You have to cede a lot of control to a third party and trust them to be reliable, which can be an uneasy proposition. Most experts recommend backing up your data to both a hard drive and the cloud. You can decrease your vulnerability to cybercrime — or at least minimize the damage of an attack — with a few pretty low-tech precautions. They require some time and effort, but you should be able to do it without outside help. First, you need to be aware of all the information that your business contains, from the minor stuff to the valuable records whose loss would be devastating. Record where it’s stored, exactly who has access to it, if it’s connected to the Internet (which makes it more vulnerable) and what its value is to you.

Michael Pertuit on ransomware attacks: Use Strong Passwords & Use a Password Management Tool. You’ve probably heard that strong passwords are critical to online security. The truth is passwords are important in keeping hackers out of your data! According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) 2017 new password policy framework, you should consider: Dropping the crazy, complex mixture of upper case letters, symbols, and numbers. Instead, opt for something more user-friendly but with at least eight characters and a maximum length of 64 characters. If you want to make it easier to manage your passwords, try using a password management tool or password account vault. LastPass FREE is a great tool for an individual. LastPass offers a FREE account and has a $2/month membership with some great advanced password features.

Michael Joseph Pertuit on internet security: Make Sure Employees Look for the S in HTTPs When Searching the Web. Employees will, from time to time, use the corporate IT network to visit websites or sign up for services, either for personal use or for the company. Before submitting any information, they should always be on the lookout for the padlock and HTTPS in the address bar. If the site is unprotected, they should not enter any information. Note: It’s important to also educate employees on phishing websites (see tip 15 below). There have been cases of phishing websites using Domain Validated (DV) SSL Certificates to make their sites look more “real” and “trustworthy”.

Michael Joseph Pertuit on data breach: Malicious criminals tend to follow a basic pattern: targeting an organization for a breach takes planning. They research their victims to learn where the vulnerabilities are, such as missing or failed updates and employee susceptibility to phishing campaigns. Hackers learn a target’s weak points, then develop a campaign to get insiders to mistakenly download malware. Sometimes they go after the network directly. Once inside, malicious criminals have the freedom to search for the data they want — and lots of time to do it, as the average breach takes more than five months to detect. In many cases, data breaches cannot just be patched up with some password changes. The effects of a data leak can be a lasting issue for your reputation, finances, and more.

The obvious security and privacy advantages of a VPN come when you’re connected to a public Wi-Fi network. Depending on where you are, Wi-Fi could be widely available at coffee shops, restaurants, bars, and on school campuses. There’s no way to know what kind of security is available on these networks, though. Some can even use these public connections to snoop and steal your data. As a rule of thumb, never do anything like online banking when connected to such networks without a VPN. All your data is encrypted when using a VPN, so that’s a security plus as well. Some services even offer extra security features like protection from malware, among others. Read even more info on https://soundcloud.com/mjpertuit.