It’s Cyber Security Awareness Month, and if you’re like us, protecting your organization against cyber threats is a big deal. This month is a great opportunity to have intentional conversations about cyber security, especially as the way people work continues to evolve. From more remote work to more use of personal devices, there are more endpoints to manage and secure. To minimize the impact of ever-evolving security threats, your strategy needs the right mix of technology and employee training.
We know you wouldn’t walk up to a stranger and hand them all your customer or employee data, but you or your employees could be doing it unintentionally. Regardless of the size of your business, it’s important to take steps to protect yourself against cyber-attacks, data loss, and privacy breaches.
Phishing
Phishing is where a scammer sends a deceptive email or message disguised as a trusted person or organization in an attempt to trick you into giving them access to your computer, data, network, or accounts. These are still popular cybercrimes because of how effective they are, which is why it’s important to transform your employees from your biggest vulnerability into a strong defense.
Avoid taking the bait by:
- Empowering your employees by enrolling them in security awareness training that combines education with phishing simulations (like ours at Expert IT Solutions).
- Checking the sender’s email address.
- Hovering over a link before you open it. It’s always a good idea to confirm with the sender if you aren’t expecting a link or an attachment.
- Looking for grammar or spelling errors and paying close attention to a different tone than you would expect from the sender.
- Even if the email has a sense of urgency, take your time observing it. Scammers use urgency to push you into making a decision based on your emotions. If something doesn’t make sense, use a different method to reach out to the sender.

Keep your software and devices up-to-date
Devices hold and process a lot of personal data, and cyber criminals will exploit bugs in software or hardware to gain access to it. By keeping your software and devices up-to-date, you could prevent security vulnerabilities from being exploited.
- Browsers should be updated with the latest security patches
- Enable automatic updates for your operating system
- Set your antivirus software to install updates automatically
Stay aware all year round
Cybercriminals do not take days off and they are always looking for new ways to attack your business. While you may hear about the big security breaches at large organizations, small businesses are just as strong of a target. To keep yours safe, you should follow basic cyber hygiene practices.
- Scheduled data backup
- Use of a password manager where you assign different passwords to each account (that way if one account is compromised, they aren’t all compromised)
- Two-factor authentication everywhere that is possible
Do not wait until your data is held at ransom by a cybercriminal before you take action. Get in touch with our Alberta IT experts by calling 1-800-467-2849 to begin building a comprehensive cyber security strategy that decreases your risks of devastating attacks while looking out for your company’s bottom line.