Do Your Part #BeCyberSmart

Spooky Season is among us! October is finally here, which means it’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month! It is our duty here at Steel Patriot Partners to always educate and empower the community on how to stay cyber safe and this year we have felt even more responsible to do so. The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) got together this year to increase security awareness by creating the “Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart” movement. The shift to more flexible work arrangements (remote work) and the work from home (WFH) model are being adopted by nearly every organization. Which, let’s face it, has been pretty awesome. With the convenience of being able to work from home, or anywhere for that matter, also increases the convenience for cybercriminals to deploy cyber-attacks.  

“The increased number of devices connecting to business networks provides more opportunities for cybercriminals, and all employees now have a responsibility to protect their organizations.” –Spectrum 

In an effort to educate the community we have come up with a few tricks or treats anyone can use to strengthen their security posture at home:  

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• Secure your home WIFI! This is one of the most important steps for at home workers to take. It sounds simple but makes a huge impact in protecting not only your data but company data. Your home router is a major gateway for cybercriminals to exploit. By simply changing the factory setting usernames and passwords on all your network devices you can begin to fortify your at home defenses. Also, by utilizing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) you can safely & privately connect to the internet from any location.  
• Multi-Factor authentication! Another super easy step to take in enhancing your at home security posture is to enable two factor or multifactor authentication logins to all your work applications. Whether it’s your E-mail, CRM, or your Cloud Provider, if they have a 2-factor option, utilize it. Log Access Management practices are a critical defense mechanism against fraud and identity theft.  
• Clear your Cache & Cookies! We all know about the notification at the bottom of every website asking to use our cookies. Cookies are what websites use to store user information (usernames, passwords, ect.) and Caches are used to load you into websites faster that you normally visit. While convenient, it’s also very risky giving all of that information up for anyone to grab. Clearing your Cache & Cookies at the end of every workday is a solid move to beef up your security posture.   
• Download a Password Manager! We have all been guilty of using the same password for multiple accounts. Which needs no explanation on the security risk involved. As a security rule of thumb, each account should have its own unique password. So, if one account gets compromised, the others are still safe. By using a Password Manager or Vault you can easily & securely store all your passwords for each different account. Ensuring no duplicate passwords and securing all your accounts. 

• Last, but certainly not least! Develop a healthy sense of suspicion. One of the biggest methods of cyber-attacks is phishing schemes. Malicious e-mails trying to extract information or corrupt the device. Personal information should never been sent through plain text, so if you receive an e-mail asking for personal identifiable information that should raise some red flags and you should consult with your security team before moving forward.  

Here, at Steel Patriot Partners we understand the difficulties of the work force right now and we want to help in any way we can. We hope you found this article useful and wish you the best of luck in fortifying your at home security posture. You got this! If you have any questions or concerns regarding your current cybersecurity stance we would be more than happy to talk! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Give us a follow on social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), send us an email, give us a call at 703-297-4405 or contact us directly! Regardless of the method you choose, we look forward to hearing from you and – as always, we appreciate your time for reading this content!