Cyber-Security checklist

To protect your business - 11 points you should consider and check.

• Do you have a backup and do you check it regularly?
  The first target for hackers using ransomware is your backup. Without a backup, you are a perfect target for extortion. Only a daily and well-secured backup allows for quick recovery in the event of a cyberattack.
  
  
• Inventory your company data and check that all data is backed up.
• Check your generational backup regularly.
• Check your backup destination to ensure it is not easily accessible to users and administrators over the network.
• Check the alert settings in case of backup errors.
• Back up your data to an additional external location.
  
  
• Is your software regularly updated?
  Keeping your operating systems, browsers, and applications up to date is essential to minimize the attack surface. Software updates often contain important patches for known security vulnerabilities (exploits) that hackers readily exploit once discovered. It is always crucial to keep your software current. Ideally, updates should be managed through policies to ensure regular, automatic updates.
  
  
• Have you already implemented two-factor or multi-factor authentication (2FA, MFA) for your user accounts?
  Authentication (login) via a second factor—the first factor is usually a password—is an easy-to-implement measure to secure your accounts and your identity and reduce the likelihood of unauthorized access to your user account. The second factor is often an authenticator app on mobile phones, also known as a software token, but it can also be a fingerprint, facial recognition, an email, or ideally, a FIDO2 phishing-resistant hardware token. You should avoid insecure methods such as SMS. This measure should be supported by training your employees. This will significantly hinder attackers from gaining access to the company or taking over accounts.
  
  
• Do you train your employees?
  Human error is usually the cause of unauthorized access and forms the basis for data leaks and further attacks. Regularly train your employees on cybersecurity practices such as recognizing phishing emails, using authenticator apps, and creating and using strong passwords. You can support these measures with cloud-based security awareness services. These services send out targeted phishing emails to test and train your employees' behavior. You receive an anonymized evaluation and can identify areas for improvement. Online training courses can also be offered. Your employees should be familiar with the tactics of cybercriminals and know how to react appropriately. In addition, we have developed a handbook for employees. We understand that not all employees will read such a handbook in its entirety. However, we believe it is important to offer it. On the one hand, it's for those who want to delve into cybersecurity topics and serves as a reference work. It raises awareness so that your employees don't perceive these measures as
  annoying harassment, but rather as valuable and necessary to ensure the company's long-term success.
  
  
• Do you have a next-generation firewall?
  A firewall is the essential security device for protecting your network; it acts as a barrier between your internal network and the public internet. Modern next-generation firewalls, in addition to firewall rules, perform additional protective tasks such as antivirus, web filtering, intrusion detection, DDoS detection, and much more. Furthermore, a firewall often provides secure VPN tunnels for remote access from home offices and for mobile users. Administrator accounts and VPN access must be well-secured, the firmware must be up to date, and web management should never be exposed to the internet.
  
  
• Do you have protection for your email inboxes?
  Internet threats are numerous, complex, and active 24/7. Since bypassing modern firewalls has become very difficult even for hackers, they attempt to gain access through phishing attacks targeting users. The vast majority of these attempts involve emails. Additional cloud-based protection for your mailboxes against phishing, spam, and other threats is almost indispensable these days. Ideally, all links contained in emails should also be redirected and checked before being clicked by the user.
  
  
• Do your endpoints have endpoint protection (antivirus)?
  Windows Defender comes pre-installed, but that's the most basic option available. Endpoint protection is the last line of defense when a hacker is already inside your network, a user has fallen victim to a phishing attack, or downloaded a compromised file. Modern endpoint protection must defend against all types of threats and uses not only signature-based methods but also AI and sandboxing. Sandboxing involves running programs in specially configured systems, analyzing them, and then reporting the results back to the endpoint.
  
  
• Have you restricted access to your data?
  The principle of least privilege should be guaranteed for all employees to access all your data. Each employee should only have the rights to the data absolutely necessary to perform their tasks. This reduces the attack surface for attackers and increases security. This principle applies to both internal servers and cloud-based services. For access, you should implement role- and group-based user rights. For particularly critical data and users, you can implement auditing where possible. You should regularly review and update access permissions.
  
  
• Is your data stored encrypted?
  These days, it's almost standard practice to encrypt data during transmission to prevent unauthorized access. This is especially crucial when transmitting passwords. For users with laptops, it's vital that data is encrypted on their storage devices to prevent theft and potential loss. Unfortunately, many companies still use unprotected Excel password lists. Switch to a password manager or at least protect your Excel spreadsheet with an access password. Don't forget mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, as well as personal devices used for work.
  
  
• Do you conduct regular security audits?
  Only regular audits ensure that internal vulnerabilities are identified and that measures are adjusted and reassessed accordingly. This checklist is just a starting point. Create a detailed checklist tailored to your IT infrastructure for all regular security audits. Always add new systems to the list immediately. Remediate any identified vulnerabilities without delay, review the implemented measures, and document the changes. It is recommended to conduct a security audit based on a checklist at least once a year, in accordance with GDPR regulations.
  
  
• And last but not least, do you have an emergency plan?
  In the event of a cyberattack, quick, coordinated action and a cool head are essential. Panic is counterproductive; panic leads to poor decisions. Therefore, create an emergency plan.
  
  
• Who makes the decisions?
• Who forms the crisis team?
• Who needs to be informed internally and externally? What are the contact persons and their representatives?
• Steps for first emergency measures
• Procedure for identifying all affected systems
• Further measures for safeguarding
• Measures to restore operations
• Information for the data protection authority as well as customers and suppliers in accordance with legal requirements
  
  

Conclusion
Modern cybersecurity attacks are often based on a combination of several different, highly specific, and complex techniques. It is therefore essential to address the topic of IT security and to protect the company as effectively as possible, using state-of-the-art technology, minimizing business risk, and strengthening resilience. Furthermore, the corporate duty of care obligates companies to protect their employees and customers.

Can you answer all the questions positively?

If yes, you are well positioned. If no, or if you have any questions, contact us for a free initial consultation.