Back to Basics with Security

Mike Halstead, cybersecurity sector lead for Launch Consulting Group, a division of the Planet Group, says it’s important for enterprises and leaders to “get back to basics” in order to protect their assets, community and bottom line.

Halstead’s suggestions include:

• Education for C-Suite executives: “While it’s pivotal to engage your workforce on proactive measures to avoid phishing and other common scams, C-Suite executives need to be involved in the process as well,” he said. “Top executives are key targets with cybercriminals continuing to evolve and are finding new techniques to gain entry. C-Suite executives need to remain diligent and keep their digital footprint to a minimum and take additional cyber awareness training.”
• Zero trust mentality: “A multi-step login process goes a long way with asset protection,” Halstead said. “For example, if a password is compromised, this doesn’t necessarily mean networks will be beached by cybercriminals. By requiring multiple factors for authentication, MFA adds an extra layer of security to protect businesses, employees and their data from potential hackers.”
• Understanding bad actors: “A company’s security system should be constantly updated and tested to ensure safeguards are not only in place, but are of maximum efficiency,” he said. “Staying up to date on the latest security breaches as a way to update security systems proactively versus reactively.”
• Hygiene: “
• “Cybersecurity is 80% good hygiene,” Halstead said. “The rest is extra credit. However, you are never going to be able to address the more sophisticated risks if you haven’t addressed basic cyber hygiene”