Cybersecurity: The What, How, and Why

Introduction

Concerts are fun, right? Finding parking for concerts? Not as fun.

What can be even less fun is scanning a QR code to pay for concert parking and having that code take you to a site that doesn’t look quite right. You shrug it off and type in your card information. Turns out, it wasn’t poor website design; you were just cyberattacked. 

Perhaps this may sound unrealistic, but this happened to a friend of mine less than a month ago. And, unfortunately, it’s becoming more and more common.

In fact, ABC recently released a story of a hacked QR code at Redondo Beach in California. BBC also published an article regarding the uptick in faulty QR codes.

Hackers and scammers are everywhere, and they’re only getting cleverer with their cyberattacks.

October: Cybersecurity Month

As October is cybersecurity month, we thought it important to briefly explain the risks of poor cybersecurity and simple steps you can take to strengthen yours today, both in your BarTender software and in everyday life.

What is Cybersecurity?

America’s Cyber Defense Agency defines cybersecurity as “the art of protecting networks, devices, and data from unauthorized access or criminal use and the practice of ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information.”

In other words, cybersecurity is about practicing awareness with the online sites you access, the links you click, the emails and texts you reply to, and the software you download.

Not practicing your cyber awareness can lead to unfortunate results.

The Risks

Financial Hardship

Like in the example I shared earlier, once your card information is compromised, you are at risk of losing hundreds to thousands of dollars due to unauthorized purchases. There can also be a halt in your ability to pay bills while waiting to get a new card.

Production Downtime

If you or your company experience a cyberattack, there will be an unforeseen amount of time where you are production down. Until the issue is fixed, your supply chain is at a standstill, causing even more financial loss.

Identity Theft

Once an attacker has your information, it doesn’t take much for them to assume your identity, potentially making your friends, family, or colleagues their next cyber victim.

Diminished Reputation

When consumers hear of a cyberattack, this can cause panic and distrust. Consumers want to feel that their money and personal information are in safe hands; cyberattacks diminish that. This directly impacts your likelihood of new and recurring customers.

Potential Lawsuits

There is an uprise in cyberattack lawsuits. Consumers are getting tired of their personal information being taken due to lack of effective cybersecurity practices. They are beginning to demand compensation, and rightly so. 

Small Steps to Strong Cybersecurity

So what can be done? There are actionable steps individuals and organizations can take to strengthen their cybersecurity practices.

Create Strong Passwords (and Change Them Frequently)

It’s good practice to change your password every 3-6 months and to ensure the password is long, creative, and individualized. Don’t use one password and change it slightly for everything you log into. Work on making passwords of at least 12 characters, combining upper- and lower-case letters as well as numbers and symbols.

Use Multifactor Authentication When Available

Multifactor authentication asks you to use a password and a phone number, email, or token to gain access. This is a great option to ensure only you log into your account.

Be Wary of Phishing

Emails, phone calls, and text messages can be used for phishing. Look for signs such as misspelled words, a sense of urgency from the recipient, or suspicious links or attachments. This usually means that something is off and should be further investigated before any action is taken.

Keep Software Up to Date:

Whenever new versions or releases are available, it’s best practice to update your software on your phone and computer.

Speaking of…

Strengthen Your BarTender Security Today

One simple step you can take to ensure your BarTender software is as safe and protected as possible is to update your software to our latest version and release.

When keeping your software updated, you’re ensuring that attackers are unable to take advantage of possible known issues and vulnerabilities in our software.

What’s more, if you’re running version 2016, 10.1, 10.0, 9.0, etc., these versions are not only very outdated versions of BarTender software, but they are also unsupported versions of software.

What this means is (1) they make you vulnerable to possible threats and (2) should you run into an issue with your software, you cannot utilize our legendary technical support team for quick resolution.

Contact our sales team to see if your license is eligible to update to our latest version! All we require is an active maintenance & support agreement.

Already know your maintenance is active? Update today using these two links as guidance:

Update Guidance & Provisional Activation

If you have further questions, contact our sales team. They are happy to assist!