Top 6 Cyber Security Bad Habits You Must Ditch in 2021

New Year has come, and everyone is secretly praying for a better and brighter 2021. We cannot comment on the pandemic’s unfolding this year, but we can surely throw light on unveiling the cybersecurity scenario in 2021. If the reports are anything to go by, 2021 can expect a cybersecurity breach every eleven seconds. This figure ends double of the requisite figure in 2019 (every nineteen seconds). In 2016, the cyberattack incidents were limited to every forty seconds, four times the expected rate in 2021.

Innovation in technology and IoT devices has surged considerably; however, people and businesses’ implementation of cybersecurity practices have not caught up simultaneously. To address this grave issue at hand, we have compiled a list of six prevalent bad habits for implementing cybersecurity practices.

1. Unsatisfactory password hygiene: When you keep simple passwords like ‘123456’, ‘abcde’ can be as simple to crack as Alohomora! As per the findings of a 2017 Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report, almost 80% of all data breaches have easy-to-guess passwords to blame. As humans, we tend to be indolent while remembering passwords. We keep similar and straightforward passwords for multiple accounts.

Almost 59% of the internet’s population uses the same passwords for several platforms. This seemingly innocuous habit makes hackers’ work a lot easier. Here are some practices you must steer clear of.

Choosing easy-to-guess, obvious passwords, and usernames like admin.

Unsatisfactory password storage and management. 

Using the same password for many accounts for an extended time.

Setting extremely short passwords.

2. Not using multi-factor authentication or two-factor authentication: If you believe that keeping a single password is enough to secure your website/account, you could not be more up the wrong alley! It is 2021, and multi-factor authentication can only carry the day. In general, the greater the number of security layers, the lesser are the chances of a security breach. The extra layers could be either voice recognition, fingerprint or facial recognition, code generation by SMS. Utilizing the benefits of multi-factor authentication, one can successfully ward off cybersecurity breach attempts.
3. Not upgrading to HTTPS: Have you noticed an insecure content webpage warning? That is because the site you are attempting to visit lacks an SSL certificate. It is the apt new year gift for your business website if you have not installed one already. Ward off MiTM (Man in the Middle) attacks and hacker attempts by buying and installing the perfect SSL certificate for your website. The extra “s” in HTTPS stands for the security afforded by public-key encryption cryptography. Do you have multiple subdomains that you seek to protect? A Wildcard SSL Certificate from SSL2BUY will be your perfect choice. 
4. Not having a proper disaster recovery plan in place: Focusing on preventive cybersecurity measures is all well and good, but are you prepared to handle the aftermath of a cybersecurity breach? You might have taken all the necessary precautions, but it still will not render 100% protection to your site. It is strongly recommended to construct an Incident Response Plan (IRP) or a Disaster Recovery (DR) solution. Your customers trust you with their Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and as a business, loss of data can cause irreparable damage to your enterprise and consumers’ trust.

Consider investing in a reliable automated incremental backup setup that ensures stability in a cybersecurity attack’s untoward event. There are six elemental phases of an IRP, namely. 

• Preparation: Training employees and IT staff to respond effectively in the event of a potential breach of security.
• Identification: Rooting out false positives and ascertaining whether an event is indeed a security breach.
• Containment: Assessing and controlling the damage inflicted by the incident and isolating infected systems to curb the spread of damage.
• Eradication: Identifying and eliminating the root cause of the security breach.
• Recovery: Re-introducing previously affected systems into the production environment once no threat remains.
• Lessons learned: Carry out incident documentation, learn from the breach, and chalk out an improved future response plan.

5. Likening cybersecurity to a “black box”: We understand that cybersecurity is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is not an indecipherable “black box” either! All you need to do is give up any laxity regarding the seriousness of cybersecurity issues; and educate yourself on overcoming such threats in the best possible ways. You can always hit up a dedicated team of experts to look after these aspects for you.
6. Not securing email: The emails you send out and the ones at rest in your inbox are equally at risk to the charms of hackers who can easily eavesdrop on the communication taking place if sent in plain text. This is where email signing certificates come into play. Secure your emails with the perfect email encryption certificate that verifies the sender’s identity and encrypts the attachment and text into ciphertext that can only be decrypted with the recipient’s private key. 

Summing up

On that note, we would like to wrap up by conjecturing that though old habits die hard, it is always an effort worth remembering to get rid of them. This is even more applicable to cybersecurity practices that can affect your business in ways you cannot fathom. Let your new year resolve to bid adieu to such hurdles and embrace a smooth journey to the zenith of success.