The snow is finally melting, which can only mean that spring cleaning season has finally kicked in. So goodbye winter throws, and hello to freshly cleaned sheets, squeaky clean floors, and organized cupboards.

But don’t stop there; direct some of this energy into tidying up your organization’s cybersecurity habits. So this is your chance to dive deep into your company’s resources and weed out any lingering lousy cybersecurity gaps.

Building an environment with safe cybersecurity habits will impact your company’s infrastructure – it will create an additional layer of security that will help prevent cybercriminals from entering your IT infrastructure.

Where Do I Begin?

We asked our Information Security Officer, Darren Meunier, to share with us what to include in a cybersecurity spring cleaning list. But, he advised, if an organization truly wants to transform their IT environment, he would recommend the following to be on the top of their list:

Security Training: Your employees are used as a primary gateway for cybercriminals to gain access to your IT infrastructure. Sadly uneducated employees can unintentionally allow hackers into your organization through numerous methods of attacks, such as phishing emails and brute force.

The first step in tackling your cybersecurity spring cleaning list is to educate your employees on the latest cybersecurity trends and tips.

Strengthen your Password: It’s 2023, and having a solid password will forever remain the first layer of security that all organizations should impose on their employees. A complex password with lower and upper case letters can prevent a malicious actor from obtaining personal information and accounts.

Become a cybersecurity advocate and encourage your organization to impose a password policy to stop an attack proactively.

E-waste Declutter: Free up more space by throwing away any used technology gathering dust.

But be cautious when you do, because have you ever heard of the phrase “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” – this can be applied to e-waste.

E-waste that is improperly disposed of can still contain valuable information that hackers can take advantage of, such as social security numbers, birthdays, emails, and so on.

So before you throw out your unused device, please reset it to the factory setting.

Keep your Devices Up-To-Date: There’s nothing worse than an organization being a victim of a Zero-Day attack. An attack like this could lead to unforeseen problems that will impact your business.

The only solution to prevent a Zero-Day attack is to continue to update your devices. So start the season by ensuring all devices are up-to-date and functioning on the latest operating system.

And yes, ensuring all devices are up-to-date can take time and effort. That is why we recommend deploying mobile device management (MDM) if you’re a business of 20 and more. It’s software that controls, secures and enforces usage policies on an organization’s laptops, smartphones, tablets, and other devices.

If you wish to learn more about MDM, please contact Wayne Westernacher Schneider at [email protected], and he will assist you with any questions and concerns you may have.