Five ways to protect yourself against cyber attacks.

• Author: Christensen, Lisa
• Position: Around Utah

Cyberattacks have become about as common as bank robberies in the Old West. While you can't make your system foolproof, a few basic things can help deter would-be hackers, said Phil Richards, chief security officer at LANDESK in a UB Insider podcast interview.

"Any computer system that is available over the internet is vulnerable to something. Some systems are more vulnerable than others, but the only truly secure system is one that is not connected to the outside world," Richards said. "Although usually, there's someone who can get into any system, most of the time, most systems that have good basic security--the term from an IT perspective is 'hardening'--are much, much more difficult to get into."

Protecting your information is two-fold and looks at both what people share online--from social media posts to emails to shopping on retail sites to checking your bank information--and the devices they use to do it, such as phones, computers or tablets. The Center for Internet Security has a list of 20 controls based on industry best practices, Richards said, with the top five being the most vital and practical.

The first is getting an accurate inventory of devices and knowing what is on them from a data and software perspective. In an office, Richards said, this means knowing what devices are connected to the server or other company information, and what they have downloaded on them.

Once an inventory is created, the second step is to ensure that those devices and that software get timely security patches as needed. Steps three, control what applications which users have use of, and four, carefully choose who has what degree of control and access in the system, are important from the standpoint of protecting the system as a whole--if a hacker were to access one device, such steps could prevent him or her from accessing vital company data, he said.

"You want to give users the access they need to do their jobs, but when fewer people can change things ... you lower your risk and it makes it easier to defend," Richards said, noting that the balance between security and allowing employees enough access to do their jobs can be a tricky one. The...