Let’s get back to the basics

The on-going COVID-19 pandemic has had many negative impacts. However, one of the positive things that has come out of this is a reminder for us to get back to the basics. People have been reminded about the importance of family time, taking long walks, having conversations, checking on each other, washing our hands and being nice.

On the information security side, we also need to remember the basics. I have seen countless articles, and even authored some, with technical advice about how to keep our information systems safe during these unprecedented times.

While there is lots of good information in that advice, it still comes back to the basics: use good passwords, change them regularly and keep them safe; be aware of your surroundings and protect who can see your data; back up your data; keep the bad guys out with firewalls and antivirus vehicles; keep your systems up to date throughout your financial institution with current versions of software; and apply patches timely.

For October’s National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we have put together 30 tips in 30 days to help organizations stay safer and protect their data. These are business-related cyber tips that you won’t want to miss. Click here to sign up to get the tips emailed to you throughout October.

If you want to have an in-depth discussion about technical advice, or need an IT audit to verify that the controls are in place at your financial institution, we are here for you. In the meantime, don’t forget about the basics both in life and information security.