Cybersecurity Awareness: 5 Tips for Partners

Acknowledge that attacks are inevitable. No one is off limits. Assume you and your customers could be targeted and plan accordingly.

Adopt a “3-2-1” method to backing up your data. Backups are the No. 1 method that MSPs can implement to successfully restore their or their customer’s data. Follow the 3-2-1 method of backups: three different copies of data, using at least two different backup systems, with at least one copy stored offline and offsite.

Complement security technologies with human experts. Cybersecurity software solutions provide the scale needed to thwart attackers, but it can’t do the job alone. Shore up the technology side of your defense with human-led threat hunting teams, who have the expertise to catch the red flags of an attack that your technology might miss. If you don’t have those skills in-house, look into outsourcing threat hunting.

Protect your network with layered protection. With the bad guys deploying multifaceted attacks, it’s more important than ever for MSPs to ensure they and their customers are deploying layered protection at as many entry points into their network as possible, to keep adversaries out of their environment.

Employee awareness. Today everyone is crunched for time, and basic IT security measures may not be a priority. That’s understandable, but also something that cyber attackers are depending on. It’s more critical than ever that everyone within every organization has completed some basic IT hygiene steps: stronger passwords (made stronger by two-factor and multifactor authentication), knowing how to spot phishing emails and who to notify in the event of one.