Corporate IT cybersecurity advices by Ben Climer 2024

Cloud security providers from Ben Climer today: As cybercriminals continue making headlines around the world with expensive and damaging cyberattacks, such as ransomware attacks, it is crucial for all organizations, large and small, to know about cyber threats and how to prevent them. Employees are valuable assets to a business, but they are also considered to be insider threats, the most significant point of failure when it comes to security vulnerabilities. Having the right cybersecurity measures in place will definitely help your Nashville & Middle Tennessee organization to protect sensitive data. However, if employees lack cybersecurity awareness and training, the organization still runs a very high risk of being attacked, no matter how much an organization invests in the right security measures and infrastructure. Find additional details at Ben Climer.

Ben Climer has been in the Service Team Lead and Solution Architect role for 5 years. His favorite aspect of SNS is the great team we have, which allows us to deliver excellent service to our clients. When there’s a challenging problem at hand, Ben is the one we can count on for complete answers and elegant solutions. Ben built his first computer at the age of 8, started building web applications at 12 and before joining SNS, went on to compete in National Computer Repair competitions. He worked for HP as well as music row clients prior to joining SNS. Outside of work, Ben enjoys working on cars and traveling.

With over 10 years of work experience in the IT industry, Ben Climer is a passionate and skilled CTO at Safe Network Solutions, a leading provider of network security and cloud solutions. Ben Climer has a strong background in technical sales, network administration, and solution architecture. His mission is to deliver innovative, reliable, and cost-effective solutions that meet the needs and expectations of our clients. Collaboration, learning, and excellence, and striving to create a culture of trust, empowerment, accountability within the team are Ben Climer’s goals.

As the CTO, Ben Climer is responsible for overseeing the technical direction, strategy, and vision of the company, as well as mentoring a team of talented engineers and consultants. He has successfully implemented and troubleshooted various projects involving Hyper-V, Azure, Office 365, AWS, and wireless point-to-point technologies, ensuring high performance, security, and scalability. He also participated in various CTF competitions, demonstrating proficiency in cloud and cybersecurity. Ben Climer enjoys staying updated on the latest trends and developments in the IT field, and sharing his knowledge and insights with the community.

Operating systems with yesterday’s software and security safeguards are also an obvious way in. It’s a no-brainer to install the latest browsers, antivirus protection, spam blockers and spyware detection systems, and they can all be set to update automatically. Make sure the operating system’s firewall is enabled. Your WiFi network should be secure, encrypted and hidden. All of this provides major protection without much installation and maintenance effort. Regularly backing up files is another simple but crucial precautionary measure. You need to make sure your business won’t be totally devastated if someone or something does infiltrate your systems. This is another task that can (and should) be automated. A weekly update is recommended.

Enable HTTPs on Your Website. HTTPs websites have an SSL/TLS Certificate installed onto their servers. This certificate will encrypt all data transmitted from browser to server, whether that’s personal or financial info that’s submitted through the site or the contents of the webpage, from eavesdroppers (e.g. malicious parties, government surveillance). SSL Certificates can also tie your brand identity to your web presence, helping visitors know that your site is actually run by your company and not an imposter (i.e. phishing site). EV SSL makes this extra clear by turning the address bar green and prominently displaying your company name.

If you plan on traveling, change all of the passwords you regularly use. Similarly, if you must create a PIN for a safe or security box in a hotel room, make sure it’s unique and not something you commonly use. Don’t skimp on password creation either—a numerical sequence is not ideal. Take the time to create something that will keep a criminal out of your personal property. Once you return home, you can change all the passwords back.

Use Strong Passwords & Use a Password Management Tool. You’ve probably heard that strong passwords are critical to online security. The truth is passwords are important in keeping hackers out of your data! According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) 2022 new password policy framework, you should consider: Dropping the crazy, complex mixture of upper case letters, symbols, and numbers. Instead, opt for something more user-friendly but with at least eight characters and a maximum length of 64 characters. If you want to make it easier to manage your passwords, try using a password management tool or password account vault. LastPass FREE is a great tool for an individual. LastPass offers a FREE account and has a $2/month membership with some great advanced password features.

Ben Climer about data breaches: Devices in the IoT sector are proof that we are increasingly valuing convenience over security. Many “smart home” products have gaping flaws, like lack of encryption, and hackers are taking advantage. Since new digital products, services, and tools are being used with minimal security testing, we’ll continue to see this problem grow. However, even if the backend technology was set up perfectly, some users will likely still have poor digital habits. All it takes is one person to compromise a website or network. Without comprehensive security at both the user and enterprise levels, you are almost guaranteed to be at risk. Protecting yourself and others starts with understanding how a data breach occurs.