The following is a quick, simple list of must-dos to help businesses of all sizes protect themselves against cyber threats. 

• Vulnerability Scanning

• Doesn’t actually fix anything, but...

• Shows “bad spots’”

• Good services will show a plan of remediation

• If subject to compliance (HIPPA, PCI, etc) recurring V.Scans are required

• Do it at least  annually, quarterly is common for many businesses, monthly “managed” services best, but more costly

Think of it as a home inspection.

• Penetration Testing

• Different than a V.Scan but related

• Considered “white-hat” or “ethical” hacking

• Attempts to actually hack into your network

• Should come after a V.Scan and initial remediations steps to test efficacy

• Most Pen Tests will deliver a detailed, lengthy report of findings and remediation suggestions

• Usually done annually. Should at least be done every couple/few years.

• Endpoint Security

• Mobile Security;

• increasingly important and often overlooked window in to the network

• proprietary and cloud apps.

• corporate or employee owned mobile devices (BYOD)

• Anti-Virus

• Firewall, go with a Next Gen FW (NGFW). Best would be a managed Firewall solution. Depending on your situation also look into a cloud firewall solution. 

• Employee Education

• Email phishing; train employees to recognize bad, phishing emails by using mock emails

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