Plain and Simple: Bright Business Insights October 2016 | Page 6

NO BUSINESS IS IMMUNE Protecting Your Business From a Data Security Breach The largest confirmed data breach of a single company’s comput- er network to date was announced a few months ago. According to officials at Yahoo!, hackers gained access to more than 500 million user accounts registered with the technology company two years ago. And because so many people use Yahoo! for their email, finances and so on, everybody is being urged to take action immediately – before the cybercriminals have a chance to exploit the stolen data. If you have a Yahoo! account, or have any infor- mation or other accounts somehow linked to Yahoo!, you’ll want to keep reading! Why Worry? Depending on the type of information you have stored on your Yahoo! user account, there are all kinds of dangers associated with this type of data breach. Yahoo! officials confirmed that hackers successfully gained access to user names, email address- es, telephone numbers, birth dates, encrypted passwords and, in some cases, security questions. If you are one of those people who use the same password across all your online accounts, the recovery process will be difficult. Changing your Yahoo! password is only the first step in the re- covery process. Because cybercriminals can use the information collected to attempt to log in to other websites, you will also need to comb through your other online accounts to make sure they remain secure. In the Meantime... Consider utilizing the following password best practices: • Change your passwords quarterly – especially those that protect your email accounts, domain logins and online banking accounts. • Use passphrases with at least 12 characters consisting of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special char- acters. • Never share your passphrases with others and, if you enter your passphrase on a public computer, change it once you are able to log on to your account from a secure location. • Use two-step verifications whenever they are available. Think Before You Click In addition to maintaining your passwords by taking advantage of the best practices listed above, stay vigilant when it comes to email safety. In particular, consider every unsolicited email and communication you receive as untrustworthy. A single click of the mouse can open up the flood gates and can leave your com- pany’s network vulnerable to a myriad of cyber threats. If you have questions about how you can best protect your per- sonal and business information, give me a call and I can provide insight and additional resources. by: Dustin Raber CPA, CMP, Senior Manager 212 N. Washington St. Millersburg, OH 44654 [phone] [email protected]