Every thirty-nine seconds, a hacker attacks a computer system somewhere in the world. About one in three Americans experience cyber attacks. 95 percent of these attacks targeted government organizations, retail stores, and technology companies.

Over the last two years, businesses had to figure out how to prepare for a cyber attack the pandemic brought on. Knowing how to prepare for a cyber attack could save your organization thousands of dollars and a lot of wasted time. Read on to learn more about cyber attacks and how your business can tackle them before they begin.

Common Types of Cyber Attacks Today

There are a few common types of cyber attacks that businesses today face.

One of the most common (and devastating) is ransomware. This is a type of software that gains access to your computer’s files and locks them down under encrypted passwords. You won’t be able to access those files until you pay a huge amount of money for access to the password.

Distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks aim to overwhelm your servers with so much traffic that they crash. Phishing attackers pretend to be someone you trust (a bank, company, or relative) to persuade you to give them sensitive information. Man-in-the-middle attacks slip into the middle of communications between you and a legitimate trusted source to steal any sensitive information that’s shared there.

Update Your System

One of the best things you can do to combat these cyber attacks is to keep your software and operating systems up to date. Malware and other forms of cyber attacks evolve quickly, finding new ways to get past your security measures. But at the same time, software developers are constantly working to block those attacks and keep your system safe.

If your system is running on an older version, chances are it doesn’t have those new security measures that can protect you from attacks. Updating your systems routinely will ensure that you have cutting-edge security and can reduce your risk of attack. You may be able to set some programs to update automatically so you don’t have to worry about managing it.

Use Two-Factor Authentication

One of the easiest ways hackers can gain access to your sensitive information is by stealing your account passwords. In fact, many of the attacks we mentioned are aimed at doing just that, especially phishing and man-in-the-middle attacks. This can be especially problematic if you use the same password across multiple websites and accounts.

Using two-factor authentication methods can stymie hackers who have stolen your password. These methods require a user to put in a password and then to confirm their identity through a different method. This may involve answering security questions, entering a secure passcode, etc.

Create File Backups

Part of the reason ransomware attacks are so devastating is because they make use of the strength of modern encryption methods. Today, encryptions are almost impossible to break, even with the most powerful supercomputers. While this can be helpful for protecting sensitive information, it can be horribly effective at locking you out of your own files.

Creating backup files can render a ransomware attack completely powerless. If you have copies of those files elsewhere, you can just use those copies, rather than having to pay the ransom. You’ll want to store these files on a separate secure server and make sure to update these backups regularly.

Train Your Team

Oftentimes, cyber attacks rely on a person behind a keyboard making a mistake and walking into a trap. Part of the reason phishing attacks are so effective is that they persuade a person to willingly give up their information. Likewise, most malware attacks depend on a person clicking a link or downloading an infected file.

One of the most effective ways to prevent cyber attacks is to train your team to recognize the danger signs. Teach them about the different types of attacks, how they happen, and what suspicious activity to look out for. Train them in immediate disaster management strategies so that they’ll know what to do if a disaster does occur.

Make a Disaster Recovery Plan

As much preparation as you may do, there’s still a good chance that, at some point, you’ll have to deal with a cyber attack on your business. Having a disaster recovery plan in place will help you decide how to prepare for a cyber attack on infrastructure. Instead of trying to navigate that challenge in the moment, you’ll be able to move straight into recovery and keep moving without a hitch.

Decide ahead of time where you’ll pull recovery files from and who will be in charge of that process. Set up backup systems that people can work off of while you work to get your main system back online.

Decide how you’ll handle customer and client interactions during the time your system is down. Train your team on how they’ll operate while you’re recovering from the attack.

Learn How to Prepare for a Cyber Attack

Cyber attacks can be devastating and are becoming more common every year. Keep your system up to date, back up your files, and use two-factor authentication to protect your secure systems. You’ll also want to train your team to recognize common malware attacks, and you’ll want to make a disaster recovery plan.

If you’d like to learn how to prepare for a cyber attack, check out the rest of our site at Visore Security Solutions. We are here to help you simplify your security operations so you can gain insight and react faster to threats. Request a demo from us today and start bringing together all of your security data into a single security management platform.