Tips for a cyber safe New Year

December 27, 2019

The holidays are almost over, which means it's time to celebrate the end of 2019 and ring in a new year.

Make 2020 a cyber safe year for you, your family and your business. Here are some tips to help ensure the next 12 months are the most cyber safe you've ever had.

"update circles looking like fireworks and sparklers; text: 2020"Set cyber safety resolutions

Most of us want to save a little more money or possibly lose a little weight to kick off the new year.

These are worthy goals. But you should also add "becoming more cyber safe" to your list of resolutions for the New Year.

We all have different areas that we need to focus on for improving our cyber security. For some of us, we need to focus on securing our devices. For others, we need to take a better approach to password security.

The beauty of including cyber safety in our New Year's resolutions is that we can turn our attention to the areas of cyber security that most need our attention.

Educate yourself (and your family)

One of the best defenses against cyber criminals? Education. Many people don't even realize how lapses in cyber security leave them vulnerable.

But the fact is this: Cyber security matters. If we don't take steps to protect ourselves, we leave ourselves exposed to losing our identity, money and personal information.

By learning about the risks, you can take measures to protect yourself.

A great place to start is Get Cyber Safe. We have resources for explaining the risks, protecting yourself against them and keeping your business cyber safe.

The Get Cyber Safe blog is also regularly updated with new content, so be sure to check back on a regular basis.

Make your home more cyber secure

If you want to get started with a more cyber secure New Year, look around you. Our homes leave us vulnerable to attacks from cyber criminals in many ways.

Homes are where we keep most of our devices – from laptop computers to our device backups. That makes them a potential weak link in protecting yourself from cyber criminals. Many homes also have many appliances and other devices, such as heating and cooling systems and refrigerators, that connect to the internet (known as Internet of Things).

Looking for a place to get started? Check out your Wi-Fi network first. Many people avoid changing the default password on their network. Unfortunately, though, that leaves all your devices vulnerable to cyber criminals stealing your information.

Once that's done, you can set to work on securing the rest of your home.

Protect your business

Personal cyber security is important. But so is securing your business.

Lax cyber security at your business can mean loss of money, personal information for your employees or proprietary information for your business.

There are a number of steps you can take to make your business more secure, including:

  • Creating stronger cyber safety policies
  • Educating your employees on cyber safety
  • Promoting device security

Conclusion

Get yourself off to a cyber safe start in 2020. Take these steps to ensure you keep yourself, your family and your business secure through the year and beyond.

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