Adam Hurst, chief technology officer and co-founder of Log my Care – the platform for outstanding care management – on how care providers can involve their teams in cyber security.
Cyber security sounds complicated, but the most effective things you can do to protect your business online are incredibly simple.
In fact, they have nothing to do with implementing complex IT systems and everything to do with your team’s everyday behaviour.
Security is everyone’s responsibility
The foundation of cyber security is just maintaining good habits. Just like we’ve all learned to lock our front door when leaving the house or to wear a seat belt when in a car, your team needs to build sound cyber security habits to stay safe. Thinking about how to keep your data safe once a year, when you publish your Data Security and Protection Toolkit, isn’t enough. Security is an ongoing process that only works if everybody acts according to the safety standards at all times.
Make cyber security a daily conversation
Get your staff to take ownership by explaining to them the importance of cyber security and how their behaviour affects the safety of your clients’ data as well as their own. Criminals only need to find one hole in your defences to access sensitive information.
6 TIPS TO STAY SECURE ONLINE
1. Never leave devices unattended and unlocked
Remind staff to secure their devices when they’re not in use, by locking screens and putting laptops or computers to sleep. It only takes a few seconds to install a virus. And also, never leave belongings unattended in public places.
2.Don’t talk about sensitive information in public
Anything friends and family members can find out about you online, a hacker can too. Encourage your staff to be cautious about the information they share about themselves or their place of work online or in public places.
3. Protect your passwords
Ask your staff to never reveal their passwords or PINs to anyone. Make sure passwords are never written down and stored near devices or in unprotected digital files.
4.Be suspicious of unusual information requests
When someone asks for sensitive information, get your staff to verify that the person requesting it is actually who they say they are. This isn’t only true for email requests, but also for phone calls. Look out for emails that urgently require sensitive information to be shared, have bad spelling or grammar, or seem too good to be true.
5. Regularly update your operating system, browsers and apps
Keeping operating systems and software up-to-date means that hackers can’t exploit any security vulnerabilities in previous versions. Ask your staff to install updates as soon as they become available and adjust the settings on their devices so where possible, updates are automatically installed.
6. If it’s suspicious, report it
If a member of your staff isn’t sure about something, encourage them to discuss it with their colleagues and tell you about it. If you think you might have had a cyber attack you can report it to ActionFraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.
Keep protecting yourself
Simple habits like these can help increase your security immensely. And the added benefit? They don’t take much time away from your daily tasks, and nor do they cost a fortune for you to implement.
For more cyber security tips for care providers, visit Log my Care’s website.
