Top 5 Tips for Cyber Security to Take in a Post-pandemic World

Vihren Slavchev, CEO and Co-founder of Mnemonica, shares his experience from the practice

Vihren Slavchev is CEO of Mnemonica. He has over 15 years of IT and Management experience, gathered in the software development, real estate and the financial sectors.

Mnemonica has successfully completed over 600 projects for more than 100 clients since its founding back in January 2009. Together with his team, Vihren continues building one of Bulgaria’s most dynamic IT companies.

Each year the company ranks high in the national TOP 100 ICT rating of ICT Media.

In 2014 Mnemonica was listed in Deloitte’s

“50 fastest growing technology companies in CEE”.

The company was also recognized in 2016 Forbes Business Awards.

Here you can read how Mnemonica can help your company during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are all familiar with the basics of the personal care. But with the rise of COVID-19 and switching to remote work we also have to maintain strict digital hygiene. Working from home has specific cyber security risks, including targeted cybercrime. Here are 5 pieces of advice that can keep you safe in the digital world, even after the COVID-19 pandemic.

  1. Beware of scams

The global spread of the coronavirus has created many new opportunities for threat actors – we are witnessing a rise of malicious activity. Over 900 new phishing schemes have been developed in April 2020 – nine times more than the average. About 600 new domains were created for the sole purpose of sending malicious emails, so it is important to be educated about probable scams.

  • Don’t respond to any sort of messages, asking for your personal information – your password for instance. That is why it is personal – to keep it to yourself.
  • Don’t give sensitive system, network, log-in, business or personal information to anyone you don’t know or who doesn’t have a legitimate need for it.
  • Don’t open files, click links, or call numbers you are not familiar with.

The security breaches occur mainly because of the lack of knowledge of those who are attacked. Information is the new gold. It is lighter, more ubiquitous, and much more difficult to protect than the precious metal.

  1. Creating a different account for everyone, who is using your home computer

When compromised, unauthorized access to your stored information can have a devastating effect on your emotional health, your financial assets, and your working life. Create a different account for every user of your home computer. That is how your personal data can be divided from the data of your child, your grandparent, etc. Use strong and unique passwords – they are your first line of defense.

  1. Software Updates

One of the most important cyber security tips to mitigate ransomware is patching outdated software, both operating system, and applications.

Software updates often include software patches. They are covering the security holes to keep hackers out. Usually threat actors take advantage of the weakness in your software by writing code to target the vulnerability. The code is packed into malware — short for malicious software.

After viewing a rogue website, opening a compromised message, or playing infected media this malware can steal data saved on your device or allow the attacker to gain control over your computer and encrypt your files.

  1. Use cyber protection you are familiar with

According to a recent study by Oracle and KPMG, 78 percent of organizations use more than 50 discrete cybersecurity products to address security issues; 37 percent use more than 100 cybersecurity products. “IT professionals are using a patchwork of different cybersecurity products to try and address data security concerns but face an uphill battle as these systems are seldom configured correctly.”

When the situation is urgent, you work under pressure, but when you work under pressure, you make more mistakes. One of them is choosing to work with something you are not fully familiar with. As you master how to use the new system properly you just bought for the protection of your company the threat actors may take advantage and use the time gap. Don’t let them.

  1. Implement multi-factor authentication

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is one of the most important tools for protecting data. In MFA, at least two different factors from the categories of knowledge, possession and biometrics are used for registration. The different methods used in MFA range from SMS, telephony, and email one-time passcodes (OTPs), to fingerprint and facial recognition biometrics, to desktop app generated OTPs, and more.

Here you can read about some of the solutions we are offering for cyber protection and I hope you find them useful. And remember, there is no total protection per se. Always approach everything with doubt, be flexible – learn, adapt, and change on the go, even if it is not always according to plan.