President Biden calls for Private-Sector Investment in Cybersecurity

The day after signing his Cybersecurity Executive Order, President Joe Biden gave a briefing about the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack. After describing the current situation and getting the pipeline back online, he turned to cybersecurity in general.

“And last night, I signed an executive order to improve the nation’s cybersecurity.  It calls for federal agencies to work more closely with the private sector to share information, strengthen cybersecurity practices, and deploy technologies that increase reliance against cyberattacks.”

“Private entities are in charge of their own cybersecurity, and we need — and we have to — we know — we know what they need.  They need greater private-sector investment in cybersecurity.”

We hear you, President Biden!  Here are a few things that we feel would make a BIG difference in protecting businesses from Cybersecurity threats!

  1. Use STRONG passwords! Solarwinds reportedly got hacked because the password was solarwinds123
  2. Your email password must be STRONG and DIFFERENT from every other password that you use. Just think – when you “forget your password”, they email you a link. Hackers can use this to gain control of all your accounts!
  3. Use a password keeper like Keeper, LastPass or Dashlane. You can have very unique passwords that you don’t need to remember
  4. Use dual-factor authentication when available.
  5. Always Be Suspicious of Emails – if it seems too good to be true, it is!
  6. Don’t Click on Links Or Attachments – hover over and verify where they lead
  7. Don’t share private information that will give hackers facts about your life – they can pretend to be your boss, family member or friend and ask you to send them money
  8. Directly Contact the Alleged Sender – if they are asking for gift cards – it’s probably a SCAM
  9. Report Suspicious Phishing Scams – Don’t let others fall for hackers’ plots
  10. Get regular cybersecurity training. Many companies, including ours, offer continual training to keep you up to date with recent scams and remind you of cybersecurity best practices.

Does this sound too easy?  Too simplistic?  More than 70% of all cybersecurity incidents today are the result of internal security issues that no firewall or anti-virus could have prevented.

Let’s all “invest” in cybersecurity by following these “simple” steps.