Technology is the transformative force driving the modern economy. The accessibility of computing and Internet connectivity has changed the working landscape. However, technology has also expanded what nefarious actors can do to steal information. As such, businesses now need to prioritize cybersecurity and digital literacy.

What is digital literacy, and how does it relate to cybersecurity? Digital literacy is the foundation of cybersecurity, and everyone should know the primary concepts of both. Protecting your company involves utilizing foundational security measures to safeguard your people and company data.

The concepts of digital literacy and cybersecurity might be confusing at first. According to Dalberg, “more than 54% of adults in the United States struggle with reading, writing, and digital literacy skills.” We all have computers, but not everyone knows how to keep them safe. As such, educating the workforce is essential for protecting digital systems.

Fundamentals of Digital Literacy and Cybersecurity

Technology is such a staple in our lives today. Few people can remember a time when computers weren’t in our homes. However, digital literacy is not something we can assume. People born in the last few decades are digital natives. They grew up with computers and are naturally adept at using them. For everyone else, modern technology can be confusing.

Digital literacy is an underrated skill that is essential for any modern business. Investing resources into ensuring digital literacy helps create a more secure and efficient workforce.

What It Means To Be Digitally Literate

Digital literacy is the ability to understand computers and use them to accomplish tasks. A digitally literate person might not know how to tinker with advanced settings or code. However, they do know how to navigate the user interface of their devices. They also have a decent knowledge of the digital tools a computer offers. For example, they might create spreadsheets, craft slideshows, or perform basic security tasks. Digital literacy enables people to use computers to be more efficient.

Digital literacy also means being able to adapt to new digital technology. Today’s computer systems will likely be obsolete in just a few years. Being able to adapt to these changes is a large part of digital literacy.

According to Bernard Marr, author of Data Strategy, “the pace of change for business keeps accelerating as technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, and virtual reality converge.”

Digital Literacy and Cybersecurity

The link between digital literacy and cybersecurity is strong. Knowing what your devices can do helps you take better measures to secure them from threats. Recognizing common security concerns and addressing them shows an understanding of modern devices. As such, investing in digital literacy also helps a company secure its digital systems. Unfortunately, not everyone prioritizes digital protection. “Cybersecurity is often underfunded in organizations and governments around the world,” according to Christopher O’Malley, CEO of LogRhythm.

Computers aren’t secure by themselves. They require security measures. Almost everyone can use phones and computers, but most of their devices are vulnerable. These people are prime targets for cybercriminals who try to access company or personal data. As such, cybersecurity basics should be part of the core of any digital literacy program.

The CIA Concept

Cybersecurity has three main objectives: confidentiality, integrity, and accessibility. These three conceptual pillars form the CIA triad that shapes modern digital security systems.

Confidentiality is when people are only able to access data relevant to their tasks. Publicly available data exposes vulnerabilities to hackers. These data breaches endanger data privacy and help hackers fine-tune their approach for future attacks. Setting access limits and privileges can help ensure confidentiality.

Integrity refers to protecting data from unauthorized changes. Cybercriminals may resort to data corruption to discredit companies or weaken their defenses. Data may also be lost due to software glitches or hardware aging.

Finally, accessibility refers to keeping data access easy for people who need it. Blocking all access passes confidentiality and integrity checks, but inaccessible data is useless. Cybersecurity involves balancing risk. Everyone in a company needs to access their data, but the data needs protection.

Essential Cybersecurity Practices

Cybersecurity is an essential component of any IT system. It’s a technical field of study requiring years of experience. Evert company should have IT personnel to secure digital systems, identify threats, and prepare countermeasures. It’s critical for employees to follow their expert advice.

Limit Access To Data

One essential concept of cybersecurity is limiting access. This policy may seem excessive, but it reduces the access points hackers can use.

A primary method for limiting access is to set permission levels. Some files, such as general information documents, may be available to the entire company. Employees should be only allowed to access files relevant to their work.

Different permission levels should also be set based on the type of action. For example, a public financial summary sheet may be available for anyone to view. However, only people in the finance department should be allowed to edit it.

Finding the compromise between openness and security is a delicate balance. A competent cybersecurity team will know data policies that ensure safety without compromising accessibility.

Enforce Strong Passwords

Another way to enforce access limitations is to set passwords. Authorization is critical for sensitive operations such as logging into a corporate account. Unfortunately, many people set passwords that are extremely easy to guess, such as “password” or “1234.” A long password isn’t a guarantee of security if it can be guessed easily. .

The key to strong passwords is unpredictability. Avoid using words from the dictionary. Instead, use a combination of upper and lowercase characters, numbers, and even special characters. This method increases entropy — a measurement of disorder. High-entropy passwords take a long time to crack. Even relatively short but randomized passwords can take years to guess.

Switch To Two-Factor Authentication

More and more organizations use two-factor authentication to complement passwords. This is commonly known as 2FA. Two-factor authentication relies on two objects to determine someone’s identity:

Something they know
Something they own

A cybercriminal might have one of these two factors. However, it is unlikely for them to have both. A system that relies on 2FA is significantly more secure than one that only requires a password.

Implementing 2FA can take on many methods. A simpler method involves tying the login process to someone’s phone. Whenever they need to log in, the security server sends a time-limited one-time code to the person through their phone. That person then inputs the code along with their password to gain access to the system.

Other techniques use time-based authenticators or physical keys that interface with the employee’s device. The disadvantage of 2FA is that it makes accessing company data more complex. However, it’s a powerful way to deter digital attackers.

Learn more about 2FA in our article, “5 Work From Home Cybersecurity Tips.”

Use Encryption

Companies can also limit access to specific files. Encryption means encoding a file such that unauthorized persons cannot interpret them. The earliest versions of encryption date back centuries with the creation of ciphers and other secret codes. However, modern technology can easily crack basic ciphers through brute force. Modern problems require modern solutions. Technology today can encrypt files in ways that render brute-force methods practically useless.

An encrypted file can ideally only be decoded by someone with access credentials — such as 2FA. Also, encryption isn’t limited to files. It’s also possible to encrypt an entire device, like a computer or a server.

Encryption can delay information access. After entering their credentials, an employee will have to wait for their device to decrypt. However, encryption software can prevent significant delays while offering high levels of security. There are multiple paid and free options available to business organizations.

Deploy Antimalware Software

No matter how tight the security, there are still vulnerabilities — typically due to human error. The best cybersecurity team can’t protect data from someone letting in an attacker. Hackers may use malware to steal valuable information or sabotage operations. Most often, malware enters corporate systems as a result of someone’s mistake. However, it’s still possible to defend against a malware attack — even after it enters the system.

Malware refers to any software that causes damage to target systems. Malware includes viruses and worms that copy themselves to multiple devices. Trojans are another common type of malware masquerades as legitimate software.

One way to defend against malware is to have strong anti-malware software. Most people call these antivirus programs. Anti-malware programs can recognize the signs of an infection and identify infected files. Afterwards, they either quarantine the file or sanitize the system. They can also take additional protective steps, such as:

isolating malware for analysis
sandboxing suspicious software to limit their effects
identifying security vulnerabilities.

Malware programs are used to take up significant amounts of computing resources. Today, modern devices can run them easily, making it challenging to detect them without an antivirus. Many modern operating systems, such as Windows, have built-in antivirus software. There are also paid and free antiviruses, each offering a unique set of cybersecurity solutions.

Many cybersecurity software vendors offer software that IT teams can use to protect individual devices. Such systems protect the company’s core infrastructure and endpoints such as employee devices. This dual approach creates multiple barriers to protect against cyber threats.

Prepare Regular Backups

Creating backups of important data is another method that many companies overlook. Even the most robust security setup might be breached eventually. It’s also possible to lose data without an attack. Data corruption can happen in isolated systems through gradual hardware degeneration. An employee might accidentally delete data. The ephemeral nature of digital data makes backups essential to data integrity.

The best backup systems work regularly and with minimal intervention. Make sure to schedule backups regularly to recover data no matter when it might be lost. It can also help to automate data backups. Automating the process removes the possibility of human error or forgetfulness.

When preparing backups, have copies present in multiple locations and different storage media. At least one storage location should be isolated from any networks. Decentralizing data increases redundancy. Redundancy helps ensure that vital data survives, even if one copy is lost.

Explore the use of incremental backups for frequent backup schedules. Incremental backups only store information about files that have changed since the last full backup. Incremental backups reduce backup file sizes and shortens the backup process, making it easier for organizations to adhere to a more frequent schedule.

Secure Network Settings

Almost all companies use the internet today. Internet access is critical to most essential services. Unfortunately, it also exposes company data to cybercriminals. All online data is potentially accessible to an attacker — even without a website. This includes personal information, company data, or authorization keys such as passwords or 2FA answers.

Fortunately, modern connectivity protocols provide tools to ensure data security. One basic example is Wi-Fi Protected Access II, or WPA2, connections. WPA2 uses multiple strategies to obfuscate data transmitted over network connections, making it harder to access without authorization. It’s vital that companies use up-to-date standards, and avoid using older protocols. Most recent devices also show warnings if they detect insecure network settings.

Many network settings are highly technical. It’s usually best to leave configuration to experienced IT personnel. However, it will help your employees to be more digitally literate. A company can benefit from educating their people about standard network settings so they can resolve basic security concerns on their own.

Learn more about safe connectivity in our article, “Top 10 Cybersecurity Tips: How To Browse The Internet Safely?“

Consider A Virtual Private Network (VPN)

More people use VPN software to keep their devices secure. VPNs add another layer of protection by funneling network data through secure and encrypted channels. VPNs allow anyone to access meaningful data from your devices with authorization.

Many VPNs allow users to hide location and identity data from their online services. . Even your Internet Service Provider, or ISP, cannot access any data transmitted over a VPN.

However, using a VPN means that you trust the provider to safeguard their data.

Some VPNs collect logs for troubleshooting or legal compliance. Unfortunately, these logs can be used to determine someone’s identity if someone has access to them. Make sure to stick to reputable VPNs with spotless records to keep your data secure.

Learn more about leveraging technology for remote work in our article, “Why You Should Become A Digital Nomad.”

Plan Thoroughly

Leaders need to be aware of their company’s potential attackers. . For example, a military contractor will need special cybersecurity measures excessive for a grocery. A news media outlet with high visibility is exposed to more risk than a local newspaper outlet. However, an organization should still have basic cybersecurity policies.

According to Roger Smith, Director at Care MIT, “just as you lock your door to keep intruders out of your home and protect your valuables, cybersecurity protects our computers and the internet from bad actors who want to steal or harm them.”

Make Sure Everyone Knows The Basics

Digital literacy also contributes to cybersecurity. A hacker only takes one mistake to gain access to a secure network. . Many security breaches occur due to avoidable mistakes. The most common breaches are due to weak passwords or forgetting to apply encryption. As such, every employee should know basic digital literacy concepts such as those in this article.

They should also know how to spot risks such as hacked websites. According to Oscar Lim, Cyber Security Consultant at Nexagate Sdn Bhd, “Hackers are using Google search ads to spread malware. They create fake websites and ads that mimic real software download pages, tricking users into downloading malware.”

Digital Literacy and Cybersecurity: Protecting Yourself and Your Company’s Data Online