{"id":89254,"date":"2019-04-10T09:00:20","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T16:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/security\/blog\/\/?p=89254"},"modified":"2023-05-26T14:21:04","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T21:21:04","slug":"4-prevention-strategies-enterprise-level-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/security\/blog\/2019\/04\/10\/4-prevention-strategies-enterprise-level-security\/","title":{"rendered":"4 tried-and-true prevention strategies for enterprise-level security"},"content":{"rendered":"

Why is it that dentists advise people over and over to floss, yet so few do it? It only takes a minute of your time, yet if you\u2019re running late or feeling tired, you may be tempted to skip it. That is until you remember your upcoming teeth cleaning appointment. There is nothing like the memory of a long and painful visit to the dentist to motivate good dental hygiene. Smart habits today can save you time and money later.<\/p>\n

Good habits are also important in cybersecurity. It is typically much cheaper to prevent an attack than to respond to one already in motion. A great example is the WannaCry ransomware attack. Attackers exploited a vulnerability, which resulted in as much as $4 billion worth of damage around the world. The vulnerability had been patched in a security update released by Microsoft one month prior to the attack, so organizations who had installed the latest updates were spared.<\/p>\n

Sometimes cyber hygiene advice is ignored because it\u2019s not the new, shiny whiz-bang solution du jour. It\u2019s easier to get attention for a sparkly light-up electric toothbrush than for a plain old piece of dental floss, but that \u201cplain old\u201d floss is key to keeping your choppers cavity free.<\/p>\n

With this in mind, we broke out the four best practices of cyber hygiene, outlined in 24th edition of the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR)<\/a>, to help reduce your risk of attack:<\/p>\n

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  1. Practice good security hygiene.<\/li>\n
  2. Implement access tiers among employees.<\/li>\n
  3. Always back up important data.<\/li>\n
  4. Teach employees how to spot and report suspicious activity.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Practice good security hygiene<\/h3>\n

    Good security hygiene includes routine policies and procedures to maintain and protect your IT systems and devices:<\/p>\n