Cyber defense has never been more important, given recent events around the world that have put people, businesses and systems at risk. How can you make sure you’re maintaining a safe presence online? Here are some tips.

Some important reminders for individuals:

• Do not respond to calls or texts from unknown numbers. Remember that government agencies will never call you to ask for money or personal information.

• Do not share your personal or financial information via email, text messages, or over the phone.

• Do not make a payment because you’re being pressured to do so.

• Call a friend or family member if it appears they sent you a message you’re unsure of—it could be a scammer in disguise!

• Always check on a charity (for example, by calling or looking at its actual website) before donating.

Some recommendations for businesses:

• Update your acceptable use policies for employees and address the use of home computing devices

• Refresh and update cyber incident response and disaster recovery plans to address current operational needs.

• Reinforce security procedures with employees.

• Enforce software updates for remote workers.

• Make sure cyber alerts and audit logs of critical systems (VPNs, firewalls, endpoint security tools, etc.) are centrally collected and analyzed so you can detect and respond to suspicious activity.

• Review Ukraine connections: Do you do business in Ukraine? Defend against attack by monitoring, inspecting and isolating traffic.

Need help securing your environment? Reach out to us.