Every organization should make securing sensitive data a top priority. Still, businesses of all sizes fall victim to cybersecurity attacks on a daily basis, which can lead to a tarnished reputation, loss of credibility, and thousands – even millions – of dollars in damages.

In our fourth and final week of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, we focus on how digitally connected our world has become and the risks that follow. Below are steps to protect yourself and your devices in our digitally-connected world as well as our associated critical infrastructure.

Everyone makes mistakes from time to time; however, when it comes to preventing a data breach at a small or mid-sized business, employers and employees should strive to be error-free and as knowledgeable as possible about cyber security. This means ensuring that there is a training program for best practices on security firmly in place – and keeping everyone in the company up-to-date on all security policies at all times.

You may not realize it, but you are a target at work, regardless of what you do. Cyber criminals have shifted how they attack organizations by now targeting individuals. As a result, you are an extension of the security team at your company. Below are some tips to help you stay secure at work:

The risk for a data breach at an organization of any size has become increasingly higher over the past few years. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), 2017 was a record-setting year for data breaches, with a total of 1,579 breaches, an increase of 44.7 percent over the previous record in 2016. So far, ITRC reports that as of August 2018, there have already been 864 breaches, with over 34 million records exposed.

When your client has discovered their small business has been the victim of a cybersecurity attack, their first impulse might be to panic. There’s a lot at stake, and this is why businesses of all sizes are advised to create a data breach response plan. This is a policy that helps businesses properly respond to any type of cybersecurity attack by providing all the actions needed to be taken in a direct, uncomplicated manner. One of the most vital steps described in the data breach response plan is to notify the proper parties of the incident, explain what happened, what information was involved and the actions being taken to address and fix the situation.