Out in the frozen tundra that is Green Bay, Wisconsin, there is a hometown football 
team that goes by the name of the Green Bay Packers. Some know this little suburban city as Title Town for the historic 13-time NFL Champions Green Bay Packers. The Packers have been blessed with many football icons over the years including the likes of Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Reggie White, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers. All of these athletes played on the offensive side of the ball except White. White was a sack artist and devoted Christian. Both of these characteristics led to the nickname, “The Minister of Defense.”
Like White who faced many formidable opponents, today’s companies are facing the daunting task of defending against cyber attacks, and as a result are stepping up their game when it comes to cyber security. You too can be better prepared for defending against cyber attacks by practicing these five simple steps:
- Password Management: Make sure your password includes a mixture of both uppercase and lowercase letters. You can also add numbers to further increase your password strength. Avoid using numbers that are in either your phone number or your birthday.
- Antivirus, Firewalls, and VPNs: Also known as “The Three Legs of Protection,” these are vital for a company’s security. Antivirus software is important because of its ability to locate and delete computer viruses, spyware, and adware from computers. Firewalls come in two forms: hardware and software. Hardware firewalls or network firewalls are usually located within a router, giving you the freedom to connect to the Internet, and share the connection without any risk of cyber attacks. Software firewalls are programs used to control the flow of traffic to and from your computer and have the ability to permit or deny communications. Finally, VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) can be thought of as a form of private WiFi, giving the user an encrypted tunnel to access their data.
- Stay Updated: Make sure when your operating system or any other software on your computer prompts you to download the most recent updates and or patches that you do this in a timely manner. If you check your computer’s settings there is an option for auto updates. This is a simple way to make sure you are on top of your game.
- Intrusion Detection: Make sure your networks are equipped with this important piece of software. Intrusion detection has the ability to gather and analyze information on a computer network to help identify possible security breaches. This software is capable of tracking intrusions (attacks from outside the organization) and misuse (attacks from within the organization.)
- Back up: Backing up your files on a regular basis makes the threat of a cyber attack less daunting. Cloud backup from companies like EMC gives you the ability to restore file versions prior to the attack and ensures that you and your company can get back to work quickly and seamlessly.
Practice makes perfect is not only true in the world of sports. Proper measures must be taken in order to successfully stay ahead of cyber attacks.
White went on to become a Hall of Famer and was inducted with the class of 2006. White’s number was later retired by both the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles (he was the first player in NFL history to have his number retired by two teams). Cyber attacks can be tough to defend against but with the proper practices and due diligence one can be prepared. In the words of Vince Lombardi, the famous Green Bay Packers head coach, “The only time success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
