What are cybersecurity threats?

Cybersecurity is protecting yourself agains online threats. Here at TeamLogic IT, we focus on protecting entire environments against malicious parties getting in. A lot of layers and methods of protection go into that.

So what are the biggest cybersecurity threats we see? And what layers of protection do you need?

With many of our clients, we focus on four levels of security that protect against the biggest threats:

1. Good email security
2. Good password hygiene
3. Two factor authentication
4. DNS and/or web filtering

Let’s take a quick look at each.

Good email security

Email phishing is the most common entry point we see for cybersecurity threats. Phishing attacks have been on the rise for a while now, mostly because they are the most successful attacks. We’ve shared tips to avoid phishing attacks a couple of times before, but they’re worth brushing up on since this is such a common threat.

Good password hygiene

Although alternatives like single sign-on exist, passwords are still the basis for most secure accounts on your computer and online. As such, we highly recommend people consider a password manager and look at using long simple passwords, a.k.a. passphrases.

Two factor authentication

Two factor authentication, or 2FA, adds another level of security on top of your password or passphrase. For most people, it means installing an app like Google Authenticator on your phone, linking that to the service you want to log into, then looking up a code in that app each time you log in. It’s a simple proactive way to prevent hacking.

DNS and/or web filtering

Just like email phishing, website phishing is a problem as well. Bad websites or compromised websites with malware on them will send you to another website that tries to trick you into entering your login information. Every time you visit any website, DNS is used to tell your computer what server the site’s actually located on. So we like to filter sites for our clients using Webroot DNS servers. That service filters each DNS lookup by determining if the site is good or bad, then either allowing it or denying it.

Being proactive about all of those levels of security will help you protect your environment against the most common cybersecurity threats.