Stay Secure in 2024: Updated Cybersecurity Tips for the Office and at Home
- By Dean Drako
- Oct 22, 2024
Cyber criminals get more inventive every year. Cybersecurity threats continue to evolve and are a moving target for business owners in 2024. Companies large and small need to employ cybersecurity best practices throughout their organization. That includes security integrators, manufacturers, and end users.
In a 2024 survey of CISOs, 80% say negligent employees are the key cybersecurity concern over the next two years. A loyal employee who falls for a cleverly designed smishing attack, for example, can inadvertently be the cause of a costly cybersecurity breach. In observance of National Cybersecurity Month, and with employees in mind, here are six cybersecurity tips–updated for 2024–that business owners can share with their employees to use at home and at work.
1. Embrace password managers: Ditch the old "complex password" rule. For all of your online accounts, use password managers that generate unique passwords
2. Use Authenticator Apps on your phone. Deploy and use Authenticator Apps for two factor authentication in place of SMS or emails. Do this for all the services that you can.
3. Verify before you use multifactor authentication (MFA): Be wary of "MFA fatigue" attacks. Always double-check the source of MFA requests, especially unexpected ones. Ensure they are from the actual source (e.g., google.com vs g00gle.com).
4. Secure your home internet network: Change the default password for your router; enable and configure WPA3 or WPA2. To protect your home network, personal accounts and privacy, take the time to segment your home network, creating a guest network for visitors and IOT devices. Put your IOT devices on the guest network.
5. Backup your data: Ensure that your computer data is automatically and regularly backed up to cloud-based storage at work and at home.
6. Educate Family and Work Team on Phishing Attempts: Effective cybersecurity is an ongoing process that requires a team effort. Do your part and learn to recognize phishing emails and smishing texts
About the Author
Dean Drako has started more than five companies. He is perhaps best known as a co-founder, president and CEO of Barracuda Networks (NYSE Ticker CUDA) from 2003 to July 2012. Drako is also an active angel investor.
He graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan and an MS in Electrical Engineering from UC Berkeley. As of 2013, Drako is a holder of 27 patents, including patents in network security, network protocols, digital circuits, software, biochemical processes, and sporting equipment.
In July 2012, Drako founded Eagle Eye Networks, a cloud-based video security company, and currently serves as its President and CEO.