If the Crowdstrike error has majorly affected you, you might be sick about hearing about it. If it hasn’t affected you, you might be sick about hearing about it. The long and short of it is, it’s worth having a chat about IT security in the aftermath of the Crowdstrike failure. We’ve put together our insights and helpful tips to keep your business safe and sound – so it’s worth sticking around or bookmarking this post for when you’ve got a bit more time for reading.
What actually happened with Crowdstrike?
Crowdstrike is an American cybersecurity company, based in Texas. They provide cloud-based security software to industry. An update to one of their software products, Falcon Sensor, was rolled out to businesses across the globe but unfortunately contained an issue which caused machines to ‘blue screen’ and become unable to boot. Despite finding the problem and rolling out a fix fairly quickly, the problems caused required IT professionals to fix them manually.
For some businesses with hundreds or thousands of machines, the process of getting back to normal is still ongoing. Unfortunately it caused issues for countless businesses including but not limited to banks, airports and even hospitals and ambulances in the USA.
Why should you care?
While there’s not actually anything you can do to prevent a large company messing up this badly, if you’re a small business taking charge of your own IT security, it’s a useful reminder that it’s really important to make sure your systems and processes are up together, so that if the proverbial poo hits the proverbial fan and it’s someone else’s fault, you’re in the best possible position to minimise any downtime you might otherwise experience. You don’t want to be in the queue behind millions of other users when trying to contact those global suppliers!
Steps to sharpen up your IT security
Here are some friendly, straightforward steps to help you beef up your IT security without needing a degree in computer science or twenty years’ IT experience:
1. Update, update, update!
This might sound like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many people ignore those pesky software update notifications. Keeping your software and systems up-to-date is one of the easiest ways to fend off potential threats. Hackers love exploiting old software vulnerabilities. Don’t give them the chance!
If you don’t want to be doing it during the work day, you can work with IT providers to schedule your updates out of hours, there’s really no excuse for not doing them!
2. Password power
Please, for the love of all things techy, don’t use “password123” or anything remotely similar. It just isn’t cutting it anymore. Use strong, unique passwords for all of your accounts. Better yet, use a password manager to keep track of them – then you only need to remember one password for the manager, and all of your login details are safe.
3. Educate your team
Your employees are your first line of defense. Make sure they know how to spot phishing emails and understand the basics of IT security. A little training can go a long way in preventing a big disaster.
You can do things like replicate phishing attacks to see who clicks on the email and which areas to focus training in order that it has the biggest impact.
4. Backup your data
Imagine waking up one day to find all your important data gone. Scary, right? Regularly backing up your data ensures that you can quickly recover from an attack. Use cloud services or external drives, or a combination of both (known as hybrid) and make it a habit to back up your files regularly. Remember that cloud-based applications may not be backed up automatically…
5. Invest in good security software
Think of security software as the bouncer for your digital nightclub. A good antivirus and anti-malware solution can help to stop intruders at the door. As for all software, don’t forget to keep this updated too!
In the instance of Crowdstrike, there’s not a lot end-users could have done to prepare or prevent the downtime. It was an unusual, very large mistake which has eroded a lot of trust in the company and in software updates in general but a solid antivirus/antispam/antimalware product is an essential element in every business’ security strategy.
6. Consult the experts
Sometimes, you just need a little help from the pros. If IT security feels overwhelming, don’t hesitate to reach out to an IT company (like us!) that can help you through your tech problems, big and small. We’re here to make sure your business uses all of the appropriate layers of security to keep yours and your customers’ data stays as safe as possible without you losing sleep over it or losing productivity in the case of an outage.
Got more questions about IT security or need some expert advice? Feel free to reach out to us. We’re here to help clear away the clouds of concern and keep your workday sunny and bright!