Cyber security has grown into the public’s consciousness in recent years and for good reason! Whether you had not heard about it until the massive, devasting attack that infected a huge amount of devices and cost around £92 million pounds to correct or the reports of Russian bots that flood many of the internet’s most popular website, cyber security is more important than ever.

However, you may think, they are big organisations that get targeted, they won’t go after my personal or business device… Wrong! These attacks are largely indiscriminate and will get anyone that is susceptible – it is likely only a matter of time.

How can you mitigate these issues?

While these malicious actors are always finding innovative ways to target security flaws, there are a number of preventative measures that you can take in order to protect your IT devices.

Keep your device up to date!

The easiest and quickest way is to ensure that your devices are all running the latest software update! Manufacturers release periodic updates that add features as well as patching known security holes

Install Anti-Virus Software

Another simple way to hold off attacks is to run Anti-Virus software on your PC. Many devices such as iPhones and iPads cannot have Anti-Virus installed due to them being closed systems meaning that software can only come from their vetted App Store in which apps face approval before being listed (Although this could soon change if certain new laws are passed! Whether this is good or bad for the consumer remains a big talking point).

There are many different services out there both free and paid – this article provides a good breakdown of each.

Stick to websites you know!

Visiting websites that are unknown to you is an easy way to access malware too. It is recommended that sticking to credible websites is a good way to avoid it. If you are unsure about a site, why not do a little research about it before you start handing over your details?

Email Addresses are not always what they seem…

Did you know that in 2021, more than 75% of organisations received ransomware attacks via email! That’s an insane amount and shows how big of an attack vector email is. Preying on people mistaking emails from scammers is seen as a very accessible route into IT Infrastructure.

Always check who an email is from – check for spelling or small changes that give it away. It may save you a lot of pain, time, and money

Stop running outdated Hardware & Software!

Back in January 2020, Microsoft stopped supporting the Windows 7 operating system as it reached the end of its operating life. Save for large businesses who agreed to extended support contracts with Microsoft, this meant that Windows 7 would stop receiving updates from Microsoft to patch security flaws. This meant running the software is considered dangerous.

 

If you still have a device running Windows 7, we urgently advise you to look at upgrading your machine to Windows 10 / 11.

 

Conclusion

While we hope this article has not worried too many of you, we cannot stress how important Cyber Security is.

 

If you have any queries or need to look at upgrading your own device, please get in touch.