The 3 Best Cybersecurity Practice for Marketers
Written by Ryan McSweeney, SEO Manager at Electric
Nearly every facet of marketing now lives online in one way or another. From lists of email contacts, to social media accounts, to the multitude of SaaS platforms that enable marketers to get their jobs done—it’s never been more imperative for marketers to ensure proper security protocols are in place to protect all these different digital elements. Marketing data is one of the core strategic data sets for any company. It must be kept secure.
There is a multitude of sensitive data that any marketer now encounters throughout any given day. It is essential to be mindful of cybersecurity because you are not just protecting your own data, but also that of your customers, partners, and fellow employees.
According to the Electric 2021 Cybersecurity Report, 96% of organizations have made at least some changes to their security strategy as a result of more people working from home during the pandemic. This is likely due to many employees working outside of traditional office environments. Because of this, the very device one works from has become increasingly important to secure.
We’ve compiled some tips for digital marketers to improve their cybersecurity posture and decrease the risk of a data breach at their organization.
1. Automate Screen Lock on Your Devices
We recommend automating screen lock. This involves activating a computer’s sleep mode after being idle for a specified amount of time and prompts the user to re-enter their password upon returning. This helps ensure devices are not accessible if left unattended. We recommend automating screen lock after 10 minutes of idle time.
If a marketer leaves a device unlocked for even a moment while at an airport, coffee shop, or coworking space, that leaves a bevy of sensitive information available to whomever walks past. If a nefarious individual gains access to your computer, they may be able to start posting from corporate social media accounts, swipe sensitive customer data, or perform a host of other detrimental actions.
2. Secure Your Home Network
If you’re still working from home, there are several things you can do to protect your home network from hacks and data breaches. One of the easiest things you can do to secure your home network is to change the default settings on your router–specifically the SSID (the router’s name), router password, and the password to the device’s administrator portal.
While keeping freeloading neighbors from using your wireless network is important, that’s not the only reason you should change these settings. Default router names like those that begin with the manufacturer’s name (TP-Link, Linksys, NETGEAR, etc.) can reveal what type of router you have. The default passwords for them are easily searchable online, and with them hackers can enter your home network.
3. Enable Firewalls
This might seem obvious to some but ensure that the company devices you perform your marketing activities from has a firewall enabled.
A firewall is a type of software (or hardware device) that protects devices from being attacked over the internet. They monitor inbound and outbound activity coming from your network for suspicious activity, blocking items that are considered dangerous based on a set of security rules.
Firewalls prevent unwanted applications from accessing devices by controlling connections on a per-app basis.
Keeping these tips in mind will help improve the cybersecurity of all the platforms you utilize as a marketing professional and your entire employer organization as a whole.
About Electric
Electric is reinventing how businesses manage their IT. Providing real-time IT support to 25,000 users and centralized IT management to over 400 customers, Electric offers companies a 50% reduction in IT spend and standardized security across devices, apps, and networks, whether you’re on-site or remote. To learn more, visit https://www.electric.ai.