Cyber hygiene encompasses all practices performed regularly by IT admins and users to ensure the health and security of data, devices, and networks within an organization.

IT systems are not so different from humans – at least in the aspect that their health and safety rely on certain hygiene practices being followed. No matter if you are an IT admin or an end user, consider the following 7 best practices to prevent cyberattacks, downtime and data breaches in your organization 👇

1️⃣ Centrally oversee and manage your IT inventory
To ensure proper cyber hygiene is being upheld on all hardware and software distributed within your company, you need to have real-time oversight of your entire IT inventory. As an admin, make sure you are notified whenever a risky piece of software is detected on a device in your network and keep track of the availability and potential faults of deployed hardware.

2️⃣ Patch deployed software right away
Did you know that outdated software is a leading cause of cyberattacks? Cyber criminals systematically look for vulnerabilities in outdated software to gain access to a company’s network. To prevent this, organizations need a process that automatically screens the entire network for missing patches and performs updates in the background with minimal disruption for end users.

3️⃣ Perform data backups regularly
Data loss does not only occur when end users accidentally delete a file, but can be the consequence of hardware issues, power failure or malware attacks. You can save your organization time and money by creating backup copies of all important files and maintain a regular backup schedule.

4️⃣ Control user permissions
The issue with end devices is that they are managed and used by humans. That is why it is key to carefully manage which individuals in your organization have the permission to control security-relevant settings. Since assigning user permissions is a time-consuming manual task for IT admins, it can be beneficial to make use of an IT management solution that automatically assigns users to groups with pre-defined usage rights.

5️⃣ Use strong passwords and make sure they are changed regularly
It is key to educate end users on what constitutes a secure password and how main account passwords can be changed. However, users struggle to come up with and remember complicated passwords every time. Use a password manager to generate secure passwords automatically and store them in an encrypted database.

6️⃣ Employ multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) solutions require users to verify their identity via one or more additional verification factors, such as entering one-time passwords (OTPs) sent via smartphone apps, email, or text. Other additional verification factors are answering personal security questions or using face or voice recognition. This is an easy way to add an extra level of security to your organization.

7️⃣ Use a cybersecurity solution and adhere to a cybersecurity framework

Here are some things to look for when choosing a solution for your company:

• Signatureless protection that can proactively detect both known and unknown threats (also known as zero-day threats)
• Built-in automated remediation of infections and any related artefacts
• Compatibility with all deployed devices and OS in your organization
• Lightweight solution that does not impede on the performance of your devices

Another thing to consider is adopting a cybersecurity framework such as the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) framework. This allows you to save time on conceptualizing an entire cybersecurity program and instead rely on the collective experience of thousands of professionals who contributed to the framework.

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