Tips to Keep You Safe from Cyber Threats

Publish Date: January 13, 2025

As we start the new year, you might have renewed thoughts about how safe your devices and data are by constantly wondering if you've been hacked or questioning if you should click that link in an email or reply to a text -- after all, what's the harm in responding to that message saying that you’ve inherited a king's fortune? Or, perhaps your business's website is still running code from 2000 or you're storing customer data on paper.

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, it’s definitely time for a tech refresh. To help point you in the right direction, we've provided some helpful tips of the do's and don't's that you should implement now and a video on the importance of cybersecurity to keep you, your business, and all your devices safe from cyber threats.

Remember, whether you need to protect yourself from persistent cyber threats, revamp your online presence, or tackle anything in between, the team at Sky Blue Sea is here to help get you and your business back on track. Together, we can ensure you roll through 2025 with confidence and success, leaving one less thing to worry about.

Let's make 2025 a year of vigilance in security and technology, keeping us safe and productive!

Steps to Take Right Now to Keep You Safe from Online Threats

Here are some tips and reminders to protect you and your devices from cyber threats:

• Keep your operating system and browsers up to date and ensure you have a reputable security solution, like Malwarebytes, running and up to date with the latest virus definitions.
• Don't reuse passwords and change them often. Use a password manager (either paid or free versions built into browsers like Chrome and Edge) to generate, store, and autofill your passwords.
• Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA; sometimes called 2FA or two-factor authentication) on your accounts. According to Microsoft research, this extra steps can significantly decrease the risk of account compromise by a reported 99.22%.
• Have a website? Keep your server and plugins updated with the latest versions to minimize risk from bad actors. Just this past week alone, 348 security vulnerabilities were found in WordPress plugins (Wordfence report, January 9, 2025).

And before you click on a link or reply to a email or text:

• Check spelling and grammar. Often times, phishing emails and texts will seem legit but a word may be misspelled or grammar may be off.
• Check the "from" name and email address, or the phone number in a text. PayPal will never email you from a Gmail account and the USPS will not send you and eight other phone numbers a group text about a package. Also, double check the domain used. That email may seem like it's from paypal.com but look closer to the details as the email may have been sent from pay-pal.com.
• Never complete payment requests from someone you don't know, or a company you don't do business with. Even if the request says it's from a company you recognize, review the steps above, and if you are not expecting to make a payment, it's best to contact the business or person directly using a phone number that is printed on a credit card, a statement, or product — never rely on the phone number, website, or contact info provided in the email or text.
• And remember, if an email or text does seem suspicious, make sure to report it as spam or, better yet, a phishing attempt. By reporting the email or text as such, internet and cell phone providers will take action on the content and sender so that their systems will prevent similar emails from appearing in your inbox and in others.

Still have questions or need help setting up any of our recommendations? Contact us today for a tech assessment.