Cyber security is something that everyone should look into if they are using digital devices. Especially if you are a business holding sensitive data. Do you know the basics of cyber security for your business?

Cyber attacks are on the rise, so now more than ever, you should be educating yourself and your staff on the terms that are used for cyber security. That’s for the safety of your company files, devices, data, and anything else that you store digitally. But, we know that sometimes it can be over-facing when you hear different terms and words relating to a topic that you’re not sure about. Don’t worry, we’re here to simplify them for you and go back to basics. 

That’s where our Alcimi jargon busters come in; here to help you understand everything in the world of cyber security. We have simplified the terms that we think would be useful for you to familiarise yourself with, and have even provided some useful tips to go with them. Let’s have a look at some cyber security terms and how to take action…

The first of our cyber security jargon busters: Malware 

Let’s start off with the umbrella term for most cyber threats. This term refers to malicious software like viruses and ransomware, and this is what you want to watch out for. It is designed to cause harm to a service or network, and most of the time for financial gain. With malware, you can find some protection for your devices to help against the threat. This is software called ‘malwarebytes’, and once on your device, it can remove the malware. More on malware below…

Virus

Let’s move onto a common one that you may have heard of: viruses on your computer. A virus is some malicious software that corrupts your computer, and it’s something that you should look into protection against. If your computer gets a virus, then you are at risk of sensitive information being stolen, or damage being done to your computer. It’s important to look out for ways that viruses may get onto your computer so that you can avoid them as part of your cyber security strategy. This may be to install anti-virus software or to be extra vigilant when opening attachments on email; make sure you always know the source where an email has come from. 

Phishing 

Leading onto another vessel for the delivery of malware, phishing is a cyber attack that has the objective of stealing personal data. You need to make sure that you are vigilant when it comes to phishing, because often cyber criminals will steal an identity which makes you more vulnerable to a phishing attack. You might think that an email or a text is someone in your business, but it is actually a cyber criminal trying to steal personal data. Make sure that you are familiar with the term ‘phishing’ so that you can look out for anything suspicious. 

Ransomware 

This is another threat to your sensitive data and it could be catastrophic for your business. Ransomware is where malware is activated on your computer, meaning that all files get corrupted and can no longer be used. Then, as ransom, the data will be held and only handed back for a fee. But, sometimes even after paying the fee, the files will still be unreadable.  To protect yourself from ransomware, you can look into other storage options; we have a  blog on the cloud that you can read for more information. 

Authentication

Now let’s jargon bust some phrases that are there to protect your business and are there for safety against the threats. Authentication is a way of confirming your identity, and the easiest example is a password. Using authentication verifies that the source is legitimate and that it is someone within the business that the data can be shared with. 

Two Factor Authentication 

Similar to the last one, there are two components to confirm an identity. So, as we said previously, ‘authentication’ could be a password. With ‘two factor authorisation’, there would be two types of confirmation, for example, a password and then a passcode. It is extra security on your devices so that it gives protection against any cyber threat. 

Cyber security jargon busters for your business

Do you feel like you know the basics of cyber security? Hopefully, our cyber security jargon busters can assist you in steps to becoming protected against cyber threats. Familiarising yourself with the terms means increased knowledge so that you can prepare for any cyber threats that you and your business may be faced with. Hopefully, we have simplified the basics for you so that you have a starting point to look at your cyber security strategy. Look out for more blogs and posts on social media for more jargon busters to help transform your business. 

We can help you with cyber security for your business. Contact us today to find out how we can assist you.