What you can do at Work and at Home to Protect Yourself and Your Firm.
1. Backup personal data to the cloud: Carbonite, Mozy, iBackup.
2. Change your passwords, make them strong, keep them private. NEVER use the same password for more than one site. Use Last Pass or another secure password manager.
3. Keep your Computer, Anti-Virus, Browsers, Flash & Java up to date. No XP or Vista OS’s!
4. Configure Anti-Virus to scan anything plugged in to your computer.
5. Beware of unsolicited links or attachments. Never open a link or attachment unless you are ABSOLUTELY sure it is safe. Report anything that is suspicious – DO NOT CLICK ON IT!
6. Beware of Pop-ups telling you that you need to call to remove a virus or update/optimize your computer. If you get one, close out of all programs and reboot your computer. NEVER call the number on the screen.
7. NEVER allow anyone to access your computer unless if you are absolutely sure they are from your corporate help desk. If you are unsure, call your corporate help desk to confirm that they are who they say they are.
8. Beware of phone scams – “I’m from the Help Desk, Microsoft, the IRS, your bank….” HANG UP the phone immediately.
9. Lock your computer when you are leaving it for any period of time.
10. Logoff your computer every night. Leave it on, though, so it can receive updates.
11. Reboot your computer at least once a week.
12. Never e-mail work products to your personal email account.
13. Never use Flash Drives you “found” or ones given to you. Buy and use brand names.
14. Smartphones: Beware of the apps you use. Delete the ones you don’t use.
15. Smartphones: Use biometrics & strong passwords. Wipe them before discarding them.
16. Never use public USB charging stations- Always use your own charger.
17. NEVER email Personally Identifiable Information (PII). Use secure encrypted portals to share files containing PII.
18. Encrypt laptops that have PII or confidential data on them.
19. Only use secure websites (httpS://) when entering any personal or financial information (credit card numbers, Social Security Number, Driver’s License, etc.).
20. Always convert sensitive files to PDF before sending them to strip out metadata.
21. Never use “free” music/video sharing sites. Legitimate streaming sites like Pandora and Spotify are fine, though.
22. Protect and encrypt your wireless networks with passwords.
23. Check your bank accounts daily and credit cards at least monthly for suspicious activity.
24. Freeze your credit reports. It is easy and it is the best protection against identity theft.
25. If you think you have been breached: TURN OFF THE COMPUTER and CALL FOR HELP!
We are here to help!
If you would like to schedule an in-depth one-hour Cyber Security Training Seminar for your company, business organization, or community group, please send a request to solutions@alpinebiz.com
Check out our Cyber Security Training presentations and videos on our website www.alpinebiz.com/presentations – And YES! You should just manually type that in to your browser rather than clicking on that link!
Please call us at 908-707-9696 with any questions or email support@alpinebiz.com
We will continue to reach out to you with more things you can do to stay safe.
Thank you,
Your Support Team at Alpine Business Systems
