Efficient Plant March 2021 - 24

cybersecurity

Tighten
Cybersecurity
With These
Five Tips

KEEP YOUR NETWORK OPERATING SYSTEM AND
SOFTWARE UP TO DATE.
Ensure that network and software updates are current for all users, validate that
antivirus licenses are current and set to install real-time updates, implement spam
blockers, and verify the strength of your firewall. Install malware-detection software
on all devices. Required scheduled maintenance is preferred, making it less likely
your company will fall prey to workers who ignore repeat desktop update alerts.

CONDUCT PASSWORD AUDITS AND CREATE TWO-STEP
LOGIN VERIFICATION FOR ALL USERS.
Employees and their passwords are one of your greatest security risks. Reduce
your risk by conducting a user-password strength audit and forcing the reset of any
weak passwords. Implement a two-step user-verification login process to reduce the
chance employees will share or guess each other's passwords. It's estimated that as
many as 73% of employees have shared passwords at some point. Add an automatic
log-off process that logs users out after a specified time frame, preventing other
employees from working under the wrong user login.

IMPLEMENT AN EMPLOYEE CYBERSECURITY TRAINING
INITIATIVE DESIGNED FOR MANUFACTURERS.

Use these five tips to harden your factory's network security.

EFFECTIVE CYBERSECURITY is not a set-it-andforget-it function. Everyone at every level must be diligent
at following best practices internally and wary of outside
interactions. To help with your efforts to maintain a high
level of cybersecurity, here are some guidelines from a blog
post provided by Swift Systems Inc., Frederick, MD
(swiftsystems.com), a provider of managed IT services.

For more information about cybersecurity issues for manufacturers
visit swiftsystems.com.

| EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM

EP2103rmcswift.indd 24

The least technical step, training employees in cybersecurity awareness and impact
to the business (which also means their jobs), will have the greatest payoff for
your company. Require new and existing employees to participate in cybersecurity
education for manufacturers covering phishing attacks, malware awareness, how to
recognize acceptable email links and attachments, how to spot imposters, identifying
fishy websites, and what to do if they may have compromised the company. Repeat
training at least once a year to keep it fresh. Stage mock attacks on a regular basis to
see how well your employees practice what they learn.

BACKUP CRITICAL FILES ON A DAILY BASIS.
To avoid the awful experience of extortion by ransomware, backup critical files and
software away from your main corporate servers and not linked in any way to your
main network. If possible, encrypt data so, even if accessed by a hacker, they can't
read or utilize the data for dark purposes.

DEVELOP AND DOCUMENT A CYBER-ATTACK RECOVERY
PLAN FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION.
Create a recovery plan outlining what to do, who to inform, and action steps to
take in the event of a cyberattack. Speed is critical during an attack. Teams who can
quickly shut down hacker access reduce downtime and impact on the organization.
Walk through the plan with all employees as part of their training. Remember, backup
files won't help if there is no plan in place to restore operations and knowledge of
how long it will take to execute. EP

MARCH 2021

3/2/21 9:43 AM

http://www.swiftsystems.com http://www.swiftsystems.com http://www.EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM

Efficient Plant March 2021

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