Common cybersecurity mistakes.
A startup involves many important decisions such as business planning, marketing strategies grow the business, get funds and many other aspects, which are considered primary for almost all startups. Between all these important decisions, the importance of cybersecurity can be overlooked. However, ignoring cybersecurity elements can lead to a serious problem for any company, let alone a startup. Therefore, it is important to pay close attention to the various cybersecurity essentials. If you have a startup, you need to avoid the following five common cybersecurity mistakes.
1. Give access rights to everyone
When working in a startup, it is important to take care of administrator rights. Often, without a critical mind, administrative rights are shared with everyone and this is a mistake that must be avoided at all costs. It is often thought that giving access rights freely saves the hassle of giving access again and again to required team members. However, it is better to make new access requests than to give free access to everyone. Cyber accidents can be avoided by having strict control over access rights. These rights should only be held by the important people and not by everyone. This will also help to improve the accountability of team members.
2. Shared password
Sometimes, in order to avoid additional costs, an account is shared between several team members. Having a shared account also means having a shared password. The higher the shared password, the more likely there is to have an incident where the password is compromised. Not only should the passwords be kept secret, but the IP address should also be masked to ensure digital security. If you don’t know your IP address yet, you can check it at what is my ip. Giving different employees their unique passwords also helps identify the source of the compromise. Therefore, try to give all employees a single account with a single password. Additionally, workers should be encouraged to have unique and strong passwords. They should be discouraged from keeping passwords easy to guess.
3. Lack of two-factor authentication
The presence of two-factor authentication is not only important for private accounts but also for business accounts. The lack of two-factor authentication increases the risk of password compromise. In order to have enhanced security on a professional account, two-factor authentication is essential. The two-factor authentication option is not possible for all software. However, if the medium or a system supports two-factor authentication, employees should be encouraged to use it. Two-factor authentication provides an additional layer of security to any account.
4. Keep computer or laptop unlocked
When you work in an office, it’s normal to take a break. Many employees, when taking a break, do not lock their computer or laptop thinking that they will soon return to their desk and thinking that the laptop or computer is safe among other colleagues. However, this is often not the case. An office can be visited by any third party and also, in the absence of third parties, it is equally important to take care of one’s privacy. Encourage employees to keep the computer or laptop locked when not at their desk. It’s a habit that should be practiced even when working remotely from home.
5. Lack of email security
Emails are extremely vulnerable. Most phishing attacks take place via emails and even with this knowledge, email security is not considered important. Emails, in fact, are extremely subject to different cyber attacks. According to a DMR report from DMR, an average employee receives 120 emails which may also include phishing emails. Therefore, it is important to focus on email security and also help members of startups identify phishing emails.
Another common cybersecurity mistake seen in almost every startup is the lack of security training among employees. Even though many startups train their employees in new skills, cybersecurity training is something that often gets overlooked. Lack of cybersecurity leads to cyberattacks. Training employees on cybersecurity rules and regulations can be extremely helpful in preventing cyberattacks.
