More and more New Zealand businesses are being either held to ransom or having critical systems taken offline. In this blog, we look at some measures you and your business can take to be cyber safe.

Unfortunately, the majority of cyber-related incidents are triggered by human error. There are a number of things you can do to reduce your risk of a cyber-attack. While these tips cannot 100% safeguard you from an attack, they can increase the awareness within your business and help minimise your risk.

Policies and procedures
Ensure you have a strong information security policy for employees and other system users. Human error is the most common threat to your cybersecurity.

Have a plan
Understanding how your systems would function in the event of an emergency is critical. All businesses should have a business continuity plan and an incident response plan.

Keep up with the times
Update systems and software regularly, this includes phones, your version of Windows and even Mac computers. Hackers identify systems that are not up-to-date and can infiltrate them. Remember to disable unused services and users.

Use the right defenses
Encryption, firewalls, anti-virus software and website penetration testing are there for a reason.

Password safety
It’s best practice for users to have complex and regularly changed passwords with upper and lower case letters, %(@*$ , and numbers. An app like 1Password, will help protect your users and your business.

Implement dual verification
Phishing schemes and invoice fraud are on the rise in New Zealand. Use dual verification as a safeguard for financial payments.

Maintain backups
Understand the specifics of your backups and who would be liable in the case of breaches.

Management
Manage your mobile devices and remote access Mobile devices hold the same data but are easier to hack, it’s critical to have the same security controls as you do with your onsite computer network.