5 Ways to Improve Your Cloud Security Standards

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article|cloud security standards|5 Ways to Improve Your Cloud Security StandardsCurrently, roughly 90% of companies in the United States use some kind of cloud service. While the cloud computing industry may be worth more than $100 billion as of 2020, it’s still yet to reach it peak.

Just about any type of business can benefit from cloud services when it comes to their critical business processes. Cloud computing presents great advancements in efficiency and supportability.But does this shift in technology guarantee your company foolproof cloud security standards? The good news is that the top public cloud service providers offer a highly secure environment for your sensitive business data.

But while cloud service providers are generally reliable when it comes to data protection, they can’t guarantee protection when that data leaves the cloud to other systems.

In this friendly guide, we equip you with the information you need to know about cloud security policies, including cloud computing best practices. Keep reading to learn more.

Why Do Businesses Opt For the Cloud?

For many years after the internet entered the scene, organizations hosted their hardware in an office within the premise or hired space in data centers nearby. In the last decade, cloud computing has completely transformed that architecture. Companies no longer have to invest in hardware to securely store their data.

The rise of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) through cloud service providers means that companies can now entrust their data and systems to a third party. It’s a reliable alternative to hosting your website or storing your data in a physical location. Then cloud affords an organization more flexibility and can significantly cut costs.

How Do You Ensure Topnotch Cloud Security Standards?

As we mentioned earlier, transferring your data to the cloud does not make your information entirely immune to security breaches. But you can avert these breaches by adopting the best security practices. We discuss some of these practices below.

1. Set Up Multi-Factor Authentication

Stealing credentials is one of the top ways cyber criminals use to access your digital business data. That’s why you need to ditch the conventional username and password combination to access business accounts. This combination is often weak when it comes to protecting yourself from hackers.

Among the simplest and most effective cloud security controls is deploying multi-factor authentication. This authentication technique ensures that only authorized staff can access your sensitive data by logging in to your cloud applications. So reliable is this security measure that most security experts consider businesses that haven’t yet deployed it as negligent.

2. Manage User Access

While you want to maintain as much transparency as possible within your company, the fact is that not every employee needs to access every file or piece of information. That’s why you need to set up clear levels of authorization, so every employee only accesses data or application necessary for their job.

You want to avoid incidences of a member of staff accidentally editing data that they have no authority to access. Additionally, you want to protect your sensitive information from hackers who may have stolen the credentials of one of your employees.

3. Monitor User Activity Continuously

What if a hacker succeeds in stealing login credentials and can access your sensitive business data? Well, that’s where real-time monitoring comes in.

Through real-time monitoring, you can spot any irregularities that vary considerably from the normal usage patterns. These deviations include log in from previously unknown devices or IP addresses.

Once you notice an abnormal activity, you can promptly investigate it to determine whether there has been a breach of your system. In case there is, you can fix that security issue before it causes mayhem in your organization.

Besides monitoring user activity, it’s essential that you need to keep a record of instances that your employees have accessed business data and any changes they’ve made on it. This way, you can provide auditors with a report of people who have access to the data at any given time in case there’s a breach.

4. Develop a Secure Off-boarding Process for Outgoing Staff

When individuals depart from your company, you want to ensure they don’t leave with your trade secrets. Create a foolproof process of taking away access rights to outgoing employees so they can no longer access your business systems, client information, or intellectual property.

The off-boarding process may seem easy, but it isn’t. Keep in mind that a departing employee could have access to numerous cloud applications. Revoking access to each of these applications can prove time-consuming.

Have a systemized deprovisioning procedure to revoke all the access rights of departing employees. Some organizations opt for solutions that consolidate user credentials into a single identity that can be turned off for the company’s cloud applications at once.

Remember, you can always turn to an expert to help you with the off-boarding process if you can’t manage it internally.

5. Have a Cloud-to-Cloud Backup Solution

The risks associated with cloud platforms and applications are legitimate. You could lose your data anytime, especially as a result of human actions. For instance, an employee could accidentally delete data, or a hacker may intentionally clean it out.

Given the dire consequences of data loss or manipulation, companies need to have backup solutions. At the moment, numerous cloud-based backup solutions that can protect you. Consult a credible IT solutions provider like charlotteitsolutions.com to help you determine the best solution for you.

You Can Reduce Your Cloud Computing Security Risks

Generally, cloud computing is a highly beneficial option for businesses in the 21st century. However, companies that choose cloud services need to adhere to cloud security standards to get the most out of it. Fortunately, cloud computing best practices are reasonably easy to implement and follow.

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Accident Risk Management: How to Deal with an Accident in Kansas

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Accident Risk Management|Accident Risk Management: How to Deal with an Accident in KansasAlthough Kansas is a relatively road safe state, knowing what to do if the worst happens is quite important in keeping you and others safe. Yes, you can save lives and reduce property damage plus you will know how to handle legal issues after a car accident. Let’s look at some of the key steps you should take to deal with an auto accident in Kansas.

Dealing With an Accident Kansas

An accident can shake you, but you can handle the situation if you can compose yourself before acting. Being angry can be inevitable, especially if you feel that the other driver was reckless, but acting on an impulse will only worsen the situation.

Depending on the extent of accidents, you can try to assist others involved the accidents. Know that there are many ways of helping a car accident victim and the best first aid options will depend on the nature of injuries sustained. Proceed to call or ask a bystander to call the local police, the fire department or an ambulance. If it’s a minor injury, you can exchange information with the other driver and even try to collect evidence from the scene.

It’s important to note that you shouldn’t underestimate the injuries in case you have sustained them. So, ensure you seek medical help and keep the medical reports. You might have been the one on the wrong in the accident but don’t admit liability before speaking to an auto accident lawyer.

Now, Kansas is a no-fault state meaning that the damages incurred in the accident will be covered by the insurer. So, you ought to notify your insurer of the accident to claim compensation. However, in case of severe damages and personal injury, the Kansas no-fault law has an exception. You can file a lawsuit seeking compensation from the negligent party in the accident. Winning a claim in a no-fault state is easier than done keeping in mind that this rule is there to reduce the number of cases going to the court system. But, you can speak to a Car accident lawyer who will help assess your case and help you fight for justice.

Here are a few factors that will actually affect your chances of winning a car accident claim in Kansas:

Factors that Affect Your Car Accident Claim in Kansas

1.The Expertise of Your lawyer

You should not, under any circumstances, seek legal aid from just any attorney in Kansas. Only seek help from car accident lawyers who skillfully handle cases of similar types. A good attorney will handle all legal processes from compiling assessing evidence, dealing with the other party, filing a lawsuit to attending court sessions for your compensation.

2. Your Statements

When pursuing compensation, you will be asked about the accident by different people like police officers, medical attendants, and representatives from insurance companies, etc. They will look for consistency in what you say to determine the credibility of your story.

It is thus important to refrain from giving statements and let a skilled car attorney do the talking for you. It doesn’t matter if you were partially at fault. Tell your lawyer all the facts as this will help in the case. In fact, Kansas uses what’s known as a pure comparative negligence rule in determining compensation. This is to say that you can still get compensated if you were at fault but the amount will be reduced based on your role in the accident.

3. Extent of Injuries

Getting medical reports that detail the injuries and the effect of the pain and injuries to your lifestyle will also strengthen your claim. You should however not be tempted to lie about the pain for higher compensations. Your attorney should be able to guide you on the medical report documents that will help your case.

It’s important to note that there are no definite compensation amounts for car accidents in Kansas. Your compensation will depend on current expenses, expected expenses, and pain and suffering. The record of current expenses factors in medical bills, the extent of property damage, and loss of income. Future expenses factor in disability, inability to work as you used to and medical expenses.

Final Word:

Accidents do happen but you should at least be prepared especially in legal and health matters. You should know the first aid steps to assist in saving lives in a car accident plus you should know how to seek compensation for the damages caused by the car accident. Again, seeking legal assistance from a skilled auto accident attorney is the best way to get fair compensation for the damages and personal injury.

Across The Memory Board – How To Educate Our Employees On The Best IT Practices

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Employee Training | Across The Memory Board- How To Educate Our Employees On The Best IT Practices

Cybersecurity is one of those overriding concerns in modern business. As there are more data breaches making headlines affecting a wide variety of companies, it seems that nobody is exempt from cyber terrorism or crime relating to technology. This means it’s crucial for you to look at your vulnerabilities. While you can set up various types of systems to protect your company, one of the most vulnerable areas of your business isn’t a technical one, it is a human one. Your employees are prone to human error. And we’ve got to make sure that we train our employees to understand the best practices of IT. What sort of tactics and practices can help you in this situation?

Investing In Employee Training

From a technical perspective, we can outsource components to a network services company or IT specialist, so they have the responsibility, but when we look at our in house components, it’s crucial for employees to grasp cybersecurity as a maintenance issue rather than something that they learn once in a blue moon. We’ve got to remember that cyber terrorism is a constantly evolving entity, which means that we’ve got to upregulate our systems and our approach to protecting the company. While we can invest in components like software patches and outsourcing technical duties to another company, we still have to invest in the people that we see each and every day. We have got to commit to a wide variety of tactics, so our teams know what is out there and what they can do to combat it. Partly we have to invest in training, but we’ve also got to change our mindset. It’s so easy to blame the employee that opens the phishing scam attachment rather than addressing the mentality of the employees in general. This is where training becomes essential.

Working On The Best Practices

It’s so easy for us to say that password security is an essential component because everybody knows to an extent this can protect most of us from phishing scams or cyber-attacks. But getting your team to do this is an entirely different ballpark. Working on the best practices with something like changing passwords is partly to do with your employees, knowing the traits of a strong password, but also understanding the outcome of not following these processes. On a basic level, a password needs to be long with multiple characters, and it’s changed on a regular basis. But remember that in order to ensure compliance from your workers, building a reminder to change passwords through regular feedback as well as password management tools can help your employees to keep on top of these issues.

Focus On Cybersecurity Awareness

The people in the IT department may know the sorts of data breaches out there but you can’t expect your employees to follow the trends in the news. You may know which way the signs are going, but it can still prove challenging to understand how regularly these things occur. There are numerous resources that you can take advantage of that provide detailed information on the latest cybersecurity breaches, but you also need to remember that this message needs to be loud and clear. Distributing this information through your team is about consistency. If you continue to share the information on a regular basis, along with the repercussions, this puts the message across. At the same time, you don’t want to bombard your employees with too much information that they don’t bother reading it.

Integrate Cybersecurity With New Employees

The onboarding process is the perfect opportunity to introduce your employees to the best practices. If you incorporate it into your training process from day one, you are able to go over the rules but also explain the importance of these best practices. Again, it’s about reiterating how much of a threat data breaches are. You need to create clear cybersecurity guidelines through important regulatory documents but also initiate a complaints procedure should a breach occur. When your employees hear about a potential breach, you must create an environment where employees share information rather than trying to cover up their mistakes.

Implement It From The Top Down

From the perspective of the executives, communicating the need for regular training in terms of cybersecurity practices is about highlighting its effect on the bottom line. Yes, there is no shortage of news relating to data breaches, but you’ve still got to make a case for it when money is tight. Looking for an executive buy-in is about making your case clear with regards to the costs but also going in with a comprehensive plan as to how the training would be undertaken. It’s also crucial to point out the costs of a data breach. Based on experience, once you highlight how more expensive a data breach is in comparison to training and onboarding practices, it’s likely executives will opt for the latter.

Implementing Regular Drills

We test the fire alarm on a regular basis, so why don’t we incorporate data breaches? When we train employees on a new piece of software, there comes a time where we have to let them fly by themselves. Allowing them to experiment in an environment with their new skills gives you a clearer picture of the potential problems that can occur and if your employees are ready to deal with them. Testing your business with a live-fire simulation can be a massive undertaking, but you can do it through smaller simulations like spot-checking your employees to see if they know the principles of combating a phishing scam email.

As technology is such a major investment and the fact that we rely on it to do 95% of our tasks, we need to make sure that our employees know how to use it properly. Many organizations invest in sophisticated equipment but don’t have the means to operate it. When our employees need to understand how to use the equipment, we can guide them, but we’ve also got to give them knowledge of the best practices underneath. Cybersecurity is such an important issue that if we communicate it so much, our employees can switch off. But by following a few of these processes, you can start to educate everybody across the board.

10 Important Cybersecurity Tips

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article | 10 Important Cybersecurity Tips

Cybersecurity, information technology security or computer security is the process of the protection of computer systems, programs, and networks from digital attacks or the theft or from the damage of the hardware, software, electronic data or misdirection or disruption of the services they provide.

The cyber attackers usually aim at changing, accessing, or destroying sensitive and personal information. They also tend to extort money from the user or even interrupt the normal business process. In today’s world, cyber attackers are becoming more and more innovative, and cybersecurity is very challenging as it is more vulnerable now these days as businesses now opting for cloud services to reduce the risk of cyber attackers. If you own a small business or are looking for some tips and tricks to avoid getting hacked, then you are in the right place!

Why is Cybersecurity Important?

In today’s connected world, you don’t have to have big secrets of having cybersecurity, and you can have a small business running and need cybersecurity. You may need cybersecurity just to protect your family photos at an individual level. Everyone needs cyber-defense programs. Cyber attackers also aim for identity theft; extortion attempts to access to bank account details. Power plants, hospitals, and even financial service companies rely on cyber-defense programs.

Our society keeps on functioning with the help of these cyber-defense programs. Everyones have been benefiting by being secured. Talos has a team of 250 researchers who investigate any new emerging cyber-attack strategies or new threats. They come up with new vulnerabilities and also educate every individual on the importance of having cyber-defense programs. They strengthen open source tools and makes it all a lot safer for everyone.

Types of Cybersecurity Threats

Following are the main types of cybersecurity threats that everyone should be aware of:

Phishing

This is where the cyber attackers send fake and fraud emails to people that have the same format and resemble the emails from reputable sources. They try to steal login information and sensitive data like credit card details. This is the most common type of attack which anyone could face. You can protect yourself from this type of cyber attack by filtering malicious emails using a technology solution.

Malware

This is also software designed by cyber-attackers to gain unauthorized access and can even cause damage to a computer system.

Social engineering

This is a threat that can be combined with any of the threats stated above and can take over your system by clicking on links, downloading or trusting a malicious source. This is a tactic used by adversaries. Social engineering can reveal sensitive information and gain access to your confidential data. It can also solicit a monetary payment.

Important Cybersecurity Tips

You are always a target for hackers

The very first tip is never to think it won’t happen to you. Everyone is at risk by cyber-attackers. Attacks can be as little as stealing your family photos or as big as hacking bank accounts. Everyone is an attractive target. Be more active as cyber-attackers don’t discriminate between any users.

Keep software up to date

Always update your software as old software can make you vulnerable to cyber-attackers. Install every latest update for your operating system. Turn on the automatic updates so your system can install any new fixes by itself. Keep browsers like Flash and java up to date. Use web browsers like firefox and chrome as they receive automatic and frequent security updates.

Beware of suspicious emails and phone calls – Avoid Phishing scams

These phishing scams are a constant threat as receiving, and opening emails is a daily chore for everyone. Cyber-attackers trick you into divulging information as personal as login id and password or even banking information. These scams can be carried out by text or through social media sites but are usually sent by email. Use cyber-defense programs to identify any suspicious-looking email and be aware of any phone call asking for personal details like banking details

Good password management

You have too many passwords to manage and end up taking shortcuts and using the same password for every website, and that makes you prone to cyber-attackers. There are many programs available that can help you with managing strong passwords and reminding you to change the time by time. For a password 20 or characters are recommended. Use a mix of different characters like uppercase, lower case, and numbers. Don’t use the same password for multiple websites. Update your password every 90 days and don’t share your password.

Think and Click

Don’t visit untrusted websites and download software or links from random sources as they contain threats like Malware which can silently compromise your system. Any emails with links attached from unknown sources or suspicious should not be opened.

Never leave devices unattended

Lock your screen with the password of your computer systems and your phone. But with technical security, physical security is just as important. Don’t ever leave your phone, tablet or computer unattended for a long period. Lock it up in a bag pack or anywhere else so no one can use it. If you have any sensitive information in external hardware or a flash driver, keep it locked in a backpack or anywhere else safe as well. For desktop computer users, always shut-down the system when you are not using it and keep the screen locked.

Protect sensitive data

Always handle sensitive data very carefully. Be aware of any data that is sensitive if you come in contact with it. Keep all your sensitive data that includes your credit card information, health information, and if you are a student, any student record off of your laptop, mobile devices or workstation in general. Remove any sensitive date files or information away from your system when you don’t need it. Always use encryption whenever you are storing or transmitting any sensitive or important data.

Use cell phone devices safely

Always lock your phone with a password and never leave it unattended in public for a long time. Never install apps that sources that you don’t trust. Don’t click on attachments or links from texts or emails that look suspicious. Keep your operating system up to date. Backup all your important data somewhere. Use find my iPhone for apple and android device manager tools to help prevent any theft or loss. Avoid storing or transmitting any personal and sensitive information on the device.

Install anti-virus protection

Install an anti-virus program from a trusted and a known source and keep engines, software and virus definitions up to date, so the anti-virus program remains effective.

Back up your data

Always backup all your personal and sensitive data as you may never know what happens. Back up very regularly, so getting your data back is guaranteed. If any security incident happens, the only way to repair is to erase and re-install the system so all your data will be erased.

WRAPPING UP WITH MORE TIPS

  • Use a firewall.
  • Use public wireless hot-spots very wisely and carefully.
  • Be conscientious of what you plug into your computer , especially with flash drives and smartphones as they can also contain malware.
  • Be careful of what you share on social networking sites as they may provoke cyber-attackers.
  • Monitor your accounts for any suspicious activity.
  • Bank or shop online only on trusted devices and networks and as soon as you have completed your transactions, logout.

How to Protect Your Transportation Business

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StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Protect Your Transportation Business|How to Protect Your Transportation BusinessRunning a transportation business presents unique challenges that are not faced by other industries. By its very nature, a transportation business rarely has all of its inventory in one place. When your assets and inventory are always on the move, security becomes an increased priority.

To be successful and to run efficiently, logistics businesses need to find ways that enable them to overcome the challenge of protecting assets when they are out on the road. Managing a fleet of vehicles and ensuring that goods are transported safely and within the designated timescales presents an extra set of issues to manage.

Many issues that are faced by transportation companies are a result of external factors that are beyond the company’s control. These external factors include problems such as traffic delays holding vehicles up and causing them to miss delivery deadlines, theft from trucks resulting in lost inventory, mechanical issues with trucks, along with driver absence, and illness. Despite these issues being outside the business’ control, they still reflect negatively on the company. Missed delivery deadlines, and damaged or lost inventory can result in damage to business relationships as well as the loss of reputation.

As there are so many factors out of the control of transportation businesses, companies must do all that they can to eliminate risks and potential issues that could impact the business. This means that action must be taken to carefully manage parts of the company that can be controlled to help protect it from external factors and ensure that it runs as efficiently as possible.

Staff

Employees are a business’s most significant asset, and the success of any business is very much in the hands of the staff that works there. Companies require teams that will perform their roles to the best of their ability, as well as staff members that are consistently productive and can be relied upon to be at work on the times and days that they should be there.

For transportation companies, finding the right staff is especially important. When employees are out on the road, you need to know that they can be trusted to carry out their job efficiently and to represent your business appropriately when dealing with clients.

Your recruitment process will need to be robust so that you can attract the right employees in the first place. Carrying out thorough pre-employment checks is vital so that you know that potential staff members are capable of carrying out their role responsibly, and can be trusted with being out on the road alone and with high-value stock on board the truck. You will need to make sure that their credentials check out, and it is also wise to get several references from past employers too.

Once you have found staff members that are right for your business, make sure that they receive in-depth training on how to perform their role, and those new employees aren’t made to get out onto the road alone before they are ready. A lack of appropriate training can lead to high staff turnover as employees that are not equipped to perform their jobs well will often experience low morale at work. Therefore, it is in your best interest as an employer to provide your recruits with high-quality training so that new staff members are fully equipped with the skills and knowledge to do the job well.

Technology

All businesses operating nowadays rely on technology to some extent. However, for a logistics company, technology is an essential tool to stay connected with drivers and keep the business operation running smoothly.

Using truck tracking software systems can completely transform the way a logistics business operates. Using the software will enable the company to keep track of their equipment and inventory no matter where it is. This kind of data is vital to the smooth running of the operation. Being able to track your vehicles and inventory means that you can manage schedules effectively, and account for all of your equipment. In the unfortunate event that a truck was stolen, you would be able to locate it immediately thanks to your tracking capabilities.

From staying up to date with the progress of your delivery schedule through to detecting unauthorized use of your vehicles, using a tracking system can help you to manage a range of potential issues as well as providing valuable insights.

StrategyDriven Risk Management Article |Protect Your Transportation Business|How to Protect Your Transportation BusinessSecurity

Nowadays, businesses need to consider two areas of security when planning how to protect their companies best. Cybersecurity and the risk of data breaches make protecting computer systems a high priority for many businesses. However, physical security should never be overlooked.

Small businesses, in particular, are often targeted by cybercriminals. This is because many small businesses fail to make cybersecurity a high priority, and are then left vulnerable to hackers. Ensuring that your company data is protected is vital. Otherwise, you are at risk of exposing both your client’s information and sensitive business information too.

Keeping your systems up to date with the latest security software to protect them from viruses can help. However, to further minimize the chances of a data breach, it is crucial to train your staff so that they can also help prevent data breaches from happening. Data breaches often occur as a result of human error. Make sure that everyone is aware that they shouldn’t share passwords, and should only have access to systems that they need to use. Staff should also take care not to click open suspicious emails, as these could potentially be phishing attacks.

Along with staying vigilant to the threat of a cyberattack, your business will also need to operate rigorous physical security measures too. High-value vehicles and inventory, make transportation businesses appealing to criminals, so it is essential to have intruder alarms and CCTV installed. Ensuring that all visitors to your business need to be signed in is crucial, too, to prevent opportunistic thieves from striking. Having security guards patrolling the premises is vital so that any potential security breaches can be dealt with immediately.