Managing cyber risks is key for businesses hoping to succeed in a modern, digital world. In the first quarter of 2021 alone, direct financial losses from cyber incidents reported to CERT were $3 million.

We recommend businesses follow CERT’s 11 cyber security tips to help reduce your cyber risks:

1. Install software updates. Keeping your devices and software up-to-date is one of the most effective things you can do to keep your system safe.
2. Implement two-factor authentication (2FA) to protect both your systems and your customers accounts.
3. Backup your data, so if your data is compromised in any way you have a backup, or a copy, available so you can restore it.
4. Set up logs to detect unusual activity and verify any strange business requests you get by phone if you’re unsure of them.
5. Create a plan for when things go wrong. If something goes wrong, you know what steps to take to keep your business running.
6. Update your default credentials that provide administrator-level access to a product, such as your website or new hardware or software you use.
7. Choose the right cloud services for your business, ensuring that the product or provider you choose can provide the services and protection you need.
8. Only collect the data you really need from your customers helps to reduce your risk level and how valuable you are to an attacker.
9. Secure your devices with anti-malware software on any device that accesses your business data or systems.
10. Secure your network, with the right firewalls in place to help control where connections go, and limit access to the internet facing parts of your network only to those who need it.
11. Manually check financial details before approving transactions. If you receive an unexpected request via email call the person or company you’re dealing with to reduce getting caught up in online fraud or invoice scams.

You can find out more about protecting your business, with an online guide to implement the above steps, on CERT’s website.