Top 10 Takeaways from Selective’s Uniquely Cyber Smart Webinar

1. How your company conducts business can impact the cyber threats you need to consider. How are your assets secured? Do you rely heavily on your website for business? Is your workforce highly mobile? Do your employees use their own devices? Have your operations changed as a result of the pandemic? How you respond to these questions can influence how you evaluate your cybersecurity risk. 
2. "Phishing" and "spear phishing" are among cybercriminals' favorite tactics. Phishing is the disguising of a mass email in a way that induces employees into thinking that the email comes from a reputable company. Spear phishing is a similar tactic, but targeting a particular individual or group of individuals.
3. While going through your inbox, be aware, be cautious, slow down and read emails carefully. Verify the sender's contact information. If you get an unexpected email, don't click any links in it – visit the sender's website instead.
4. Use multi-factor authentication, or MFA, to control logins. MFA may be inconvenient, but it has proven to be an effective way to reduce the risk from attacks that seek to compromise accounts. MFA is easy to install: most organizations, such as banks, airlines and cloud services, give you the option to set up MFA for your account in just one or two steps. MFA is easily accessible through Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Google/Gmail and Apple iCloud.
5. The edges of your network, such as mobile phones and remote workstations, are especially vulnerable. Tighten their security. Endpoint detection and response platforms help to identify threats occurring at these “endpoints”.
6. If you don't have in-house resources, work with a cybersecurity expert who can secure your systems and advise you on proper security measures. Work with them on developing your incident response plan so you’re prepared if an incident arises. 
7.  A cyber liability insurance policy is a key tool to help protect your company from expenses that result from an information security breach or if you are liable to a client whose information/data security was breached while in your possession. Your insurance company will also likely provide you with resources in areas like breach solutions, incident response planning and security threat assessment.
8. Take a holistic approach to your cyber defense...  Educate your staff, understand your vulnerabilities, enable security protocols provided by your software, and engage experts. Antivirus software is a good start, but should be combined with proactive measures.
9. Establish a login tracking system so you can detect any anomalies in login activity.  Regularly back up your data and use a backup and recovery technique such as air gapping, which is copying your sensitive data offline, disconnected and inaccessible from the internet.  This is an effective and cost efficient way of protecting your data from ransomware.
10. As a Selective customer, you, your employees and their families all have free access to our online Security Mentor^® security training service, where you can learn about cybersecurity issues and best practices. You can access Security Mentor^® in the MySelective self-service portal or the mobile app.

Want to learn more about cybersecurity? Click here for access to Selective’s Uniquely Cyber Smart Webinar for business owners.