The world is digital. Be secure in it. It doesn’t matter if you’re a sole-proprietor, or a $500mm dollar rocket ship of a growing business, you’re a target. In 2012, the then Director of the FBI testified to Congress that “There are only two types of companies: those that have been hacked, and those that will be.” It’s 2021.
Simple hacks – email phishing, guessing simple passwords, accessing your password-free network – can be highly destructive to you and your business. Many of these vulnerabilities are addressed by applying simple cyber 101 knowledge and best practice. UC Berkeley’s top 10 cyber tips to implement now:
- Know that You are a target to hackers
- Keep software up-to-date
- Avoid phishing scams
- Practice good password management
- Be careful what you click
- Never leave devices unattended
- Safeguard Protected Data
- Use mobile devices safely
- Install antivirus/anti-malware protection
- Back up your data
- #11* – Password protect your network
So what more does implementing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) do for the information security of you and your business?
- Once data leaves your computer and you no longer have any control of it, a VPN prevents anyone from seeing the information you’ve transmitted, to include your internet service provider, bad actors, governments, et al. They may intercept your data while in transit, but it will be an unreadable, jumbled, encrypted mess. A VPN prevents others from monitoring your information and your online activity.
- You can secure your internet connection when out of the office, even when you’re using public WiFi hotspots.
- Your IP address is masked, hiding your identity and meta data that may be important to your transactions.
- You can access or unblock torrented and restricted data safely.
A small business whose service’s we value is Proton Technologies AG. Eg, we maintain a secure encrypted email to share information – financials, proprietary intellectual property, or just a private greeting, freely accessible to any of our clients: twelvedawn@protonmail.com. Proton offers some thoughts on why you should also use a VPN with your mobile device: https://protonvpn.com/blog/why-use-vpn-mobile/
It’s worth repeating: The world is digital. Be secure in it.
* – TwelveDawn Add
