October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month
With large numbers of organizations welcoming their workforces back to the office setting after eighteen months, Cybersecurity Awareness Month falling in October couldn’t have arrived at a better time.
Being away from our desks and working remotely for so long has no doubt allowed some of us to let our guard down a bit as we got in the habit of working out of a coffee shop, or at the dining room table with our significant others, children, or others—each of us trying to get elbow room to more comfortably use our devices.
While some of this is already ingrained in the brains of many of us after many years, let’s remember that some are entering an office setting for the first time or could have improved on some of these habits even before the pandemic. Hey, we all have room for improvement, right?
So while we’ll discuss even more complex office security in additional Journal pieces here later in the month, let’s start with some basics. Be sure to leave comments or questions below.
The advice below applies to both very small businesses as well as large companies whose names we would all recognize.
Device Security
The fairly recent arrival of malicious mobile apps has increased the odds of cell phones becoming infected with malware, potentially leading to even more chances for security and privacy breaches within your organization.
Did you know that device users unwittingly download malware every day?
With a success/click-through rate of almost 14%, the malware bait is clearly is effective. These “phishing” attempts and other efforts are not expected to end any time soon.
Additionally, conducting more of our work remotely has led to increased use of wireless devices. These devices should always have sensitive information password-protected and have behavioral biometric ID authentication to protect us in cases where the device is lost or stolen.
A basic Cybersecurity Policy should be in place. It can be as long and complex as your particular teams may need, and as your business expands you can certainly update it with lessons learned. Providing everyone with a hard copy of the policy and asking them to sign off on having received it should be your standard practice.
Even in our fairly small attorney support shop, we handle dozens of new legal documents and a high volume of sensitive information every day. In addition to our notes in the previous paragraph, we also would strongly suggest that company leaders determine which employees have a true need for a wireless phone, and only assign them to those who do, however senior they may be.
Recent years have also seen the expectation of many fairly large organizations shift toward having employees conduct work business on their own personal cell phones. While some companies require security apps (some more effective than others) to be installed on the employees’ phones, it is quite simply an unnecessary, short-sighted risk designed to save a few dollars in the short term.
It also creates the perception, real or imagined, that your staff members are “on-call” 24 hours a day, potentially blurring the lines and damaging morale at a time where qualified and satisfied employees are in high demand.
If their job description creates the true need for a mobile phone, then it should be provided to them like any other tool needed to perform their job effectively.
“As technology advances in complexity and scope, fear becomes more primitive.”
Here at Logical Services, our primary concern is always made clear to employees and contractors alike: Working safely and maintaining situational awareness play a large role in protecting everyone in the public with whom we interact.
We use trustworthy software to find defendants and witnesses, track cases, intentionally monitor our physical locations and store photographs, attempt notes, affidavits, and more! Like many of you, we’d be out of business if we lost these applications.
We’ll discuss personal safety routines more in another piece, but for now, continue to protect yourself, protect your devices, and protect your organization’s data!
More soon…
