How did you fare over the Festive Season?
Do you recall our considerations from the last Cyber Security email just prior to Christmas?
Let’s briefly re-cap.
- Being mindful of the apps you use on your phone and how much identity you need to share. With so many new phone and tablet gifts given out at Christmas, we hope you’ve taken this into consideration and been careful about transferring your personal information and the information you share when downloading new apps to these devices.
- Don’t forget to update your devices, software and computers. Many devices require software updates straight out of the box. It’s important to ensure that you stay up to date.
- Over the break, it was surprising how many conversations we had with family and friends around the topic of passwords. Even friends running major businesses, through to tradies, admitted to being very lax with their passwords. some even using the same password between business and their Netflix account! Needless to say, we advised them on our Password Cocktail approach. Notably, passwords and personal privacy seems to have become a real concern for many people – this is great news, because the speed with which our own data is being centralised and owned by others — including Governments, big businesses and the like — is accelerating at an alarming rate. It is crucial we value our personal data more in the online world.
- The Essential 8 Framework as a cyber security approach for businesses also because a discussion point over the break. Many business owners are starting to become more aware of their obligations and this is an area where we have expertise to help you.
It has been heartening to hear more people openly discussing the above as an issue in society. We’ll be talking more about these topics as the year unfolds to keep you informed.
There still remains more that we need to collectively do. Talking about cyber security, sharing information and ideas amongst your network, leads to informed choices. There are some things we can act on now to secure our business and personal data. Such as, considering our password choices, how we share information, and how we structure our businesses to keep private and secure.
One last thing… did you know that Cyber Security, via the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), is part of the Australian Signals Directorate — a key organisation within national intelligence — and considered to be a major cornerstone to Australia’s national defence. What this shows us is that our Government takes Cyber Security and Privacy very seriously. And this means that you should, too.
As always, reach out to us with any questions or requests for help