Whether it’s for your business or your personal data, understanding and taking some of these cybersecurity measures can help you stay secure online and protect your information from cybercriminals.
Keeping your data safe online can seem overwhelming. There are so many ways your information can be compromised, and unless you’re an IT professional, you might not even realize there are gaps in your cybersecurity. Protecting your data doesn’t have to be difficult, though. There are a variety of tools and services out there that can help you prevent cyber attacks.
In this article, we’ll look at five types of cybersecurity. Each focuses on a specific part of your IT infrastructure, so you can choose which will work best for you.
1. Network Security
Network attacks are one of the most common cyber attacks, especially for businesses. That’s why it’s so important to ensure your network is protected against outside threats.
Network security is focused on protecting your computer network from a variety of different attacks. This could be employing data loss prevention measures, patching holes in your infrastructure or even encrypting data that’s stored on your network. Many of these measures can be maintained by an in-house IT professional or outsourced to a managed services partner.
2. Endpoint Detection and Response
Also known as EDR, this type of cybersecurity is focused on protecting you at each endpoint with a user. This is known as a “zero-trust” security model because it restricts even employees from accessing certain sensitive data.
The most common approach to endpoint security is to add security measures to employee computers, phones, tablets and other devices they use for work. This often includes two-factor authentication whenever they try to sign in, but can also mean they’re restricted to what data they can access from different devices.
This can help you protect against security breaches when your employees are using public WiFi or an otherwise unsecured network.
3. Cloud Security
Another area of your online presence that you might have to worry about is data that’s stored in the cloud. Clouds are online computer servers that are typically hosted by a third party. Although many managed cloud services will take some precautions to protect their customers’ data, you can never be too careful.
Many large businesses will elect for space on a dedicated cloud server, meaning it only houses their data. If your IT team is big enough, you can have them manage it too. This way, you can continually update the server software, check for breaches in security and create custom patches to ensure no cybercriminals can access your data.
4. Internet of Things (IoT)
This is one area that few people think about when it comes to cybersecurity but that professionals are warning against already. The Internet of Things refers to all of your everyday devices that connect to the internet. Things like the robot vacuum that you operate from your phone, the coffee maker that tells you the weather or even a Smart TV.
Although these items seem innocuous, they have an internet connection that hackers can take advantage of. It’s important to ensure all of your smart devices are connected to a secured network with password protection. You want to treat them with the same cybersecurity standards as you would any computer in your office.
5. Application Security
Finally, there’s application security. This refers to all of the online applications, platforms and software that you use on a daily basis. Luckily, many providers offer customized and advanced security features built into their platforms, so all you need to do is follow their instructions and manage who has access.
Whether it’s for your business or your personal data, understanding and taking some of these cybersecurity measures can help you stay secure online and protect your information from cybercriminals.
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