Whether it is occurring at a giant multinational corporation or the latest mom-and-pop shop to hit the block, cybersecurity should be a top priority for any company. Web threats and data theft not only represent risks for customer data, but they can also cause huge disruptions to your company’s day-to-day operations.
So, what’s the answer? Put simply, without proper security measures and comprehensive data safety policies in place, businesses leave themselves open to attack. And when an attack occurs, at the very best it can cause major frustration. At the worst, it can put you out of business.
Fleets often have physical security at the front of their mind. Whether it be keeping truck drivers safe, secure, and healthy, or preventing equipment theft – security is always a top priority. Yet far too many fleets sacrifice digital security for physical security. When it comes to securing your fleet’s data, are you doing enough?
The New Security Paradigm
As damaging as data security threats may be, they are also entirely avoidable if you have put proper safeguards in place. To ensure business continuity and prevent disruptions to your operation, you must put into place proper data and cybersecurity policies that everyone in your organization can understand and follow.
In the 21st century, cybersecurity is at the top of everyone’s mind. We live in an age of ransomware, hacking, and near-constant digital viral threats. It is simply a dereliction of duty to not prepare for digital threats. Fleet managers who don’t prep their fleet’s digital assets risk the worst. The loss of confidential information, from employees’ to shippers’, you run the risk of major liabilities of your information is not secured.
When it comes to cybersecurity, there is far too much misinformation out there. Fleet managers who don’t do their homework run the risk of being trapped by myths. So, let’s do some myth busting. It is critical that fleet managers put an emphasis on cybersecurity. They must take an active role to ensure their business is protected.
We live in an era of heightened threats. This is the new paradigm of the 21st century. If you don’t prepare for it, you risk the worst. Let’s take a deep dive into some of the myths and misconceptions surrounding cybersecurity in trucking.
Put a Strategy into Place
First, you must sit down and figure out what kind of a target you are. It is important that you have specific policies and procedures in place. Rather than having a vague idea of what your policies and procedures should be, conduct a thorough forensic analysis that includes everyone in your company. From back-office workers to front-line truck drivers, everyone has a say in your company’s data security measures.
You want to start with your formal IT security strategy and make it as detailed and comprehensive as possible. You want to not only lay out what needs to be done to protect your data and internal systems, but you need to have policies in place that outline what to do if there is a breach or loss of sensitive customer data. This should start with an incident-response strategy.
An incident response strategy will ensure you do stay a step ahead of the bad guys and do not make any rash decisions that might make the problem far worse than it is at first glance. You also want to make sure you always keep your incident response strategy updated and close by. The last thing you want to do is let it collect dust somewhere unknown and then not have it handy when you need it.
You’re Too Small to be a Target
Are you an owner-operator or manager of a small trucking company? If so, are you under the impression that your operation is too small to be a target? You may want to think again. You operate in this mindset at your own peril. No fleet is too small to not be a target. Hackers look for weaknesses wherever they can find them. And in many cases, they know that smaller companies may be less secure, so they actively seek out those targets.
The fact is small trucking companies are prime targets for hackers. Statistically speaking, over three-quarters of cyberattacks against private companies are launched against businesses that have less than 100 employees. Hackers understand that large companies are generally far more protected than small ones. And if you are a small company? A hack can put you out of business.
Consider that it does not matter how large your company is. Fleets of all sizes house data that sophisticated hackers want. Whether it be emails, phone numbers, social security numbers, payroll information, and so much more. If paychecks are being direct deposited into employee bank accounts, hackers will target that information, initiate fraudulent payments, transfer money, or send phishing hacks to cause funds deposit misdirection.
Large hacks generally result in huge settlements. If the hackers require more money than you can pay, a “Going Out of Business” sign isn’t far off. If executed well, hacks against small businesses are often not survivable. No matter your size, you’ve got to be prepared. So, what’s a smart fleet manager to do to ensure their operation stays safe from cyberattacks?
Promote a Culture of Cybersecurity
One of the most easily compromised areas of digital security are passwords. Are you and your employees following comprehensive password protection policies? Passwords are one of the first targets hackers pinpoint for weaknesses. You must have policies in place to encourage and incentivize your people to create long-tail, 16-digit passwords that contain upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters.
One thing to keep in mind is that frequently changing employee passwords is not a sufficient policy if the passwords are changed to something ineffective. Even more, requiring employees to change their passwords every 60 or 90 days can lead to other problems. Why? Because as employees change their passwords and try to remember them, they may write them down or save them using ineffective methods. Employees should only be changing their passwords if their passwords have been compromised.
One effective method is to create passwords in a sentence format. Using simple capitalization, punctuation, and special characters will make the password easy to remember but harder to hack. You can also use substitute characters. For instance, if the word “Apache” is used in a password, try changing specific characters to make it instead “4pa(h3.” If you use consistent character substitutions, it should not be too difficult to remember the character combinations. Still, you cannot rely on passwords alone to secure your data.
Utilize Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication refers to the process by which a user uses multiple authentication techniques to access secure systems. Generally, users must provide two or more pieces of additional information to verify their identity.
Generally, users will be required to provide information only they know. Pieces of multi-factor authentication evidence that are usually approved include:
- Knowledge of something only the user knows.
- Possession of something only the user has.
- Inherence, or something only the user is.
MFA protects user data, from personal identification to financial assets, from being accessed by an unauthorized third party. In many cases these single third parties may have already obtained access to an easy password. MFA protects you in these cases.
And when you consider that almost all your passwords are known and actively for sale on the dark web, using methods like MFA come into full focus. You don’t want to leave any security measures on the table when the bad guys come knocking.
Practice Email Filtering Methods
Email is one of the first targets hackers pinpoint after passwords. Email is also important because it is how most people reset their passwords. Once someone’s email address is compromised, hackers can access, change, or hack into other systems within the organization. If a hacker can get into your email, all they need to do is visit other secured systems and choose the “forgot password” option.
Email phishing is the most popular hack in use today. Some of the largest hacks in the past few years, including the massive SolarWinds attack that infiltrated government systems, happened because of successful email phishing attempts. Smart IT departments utilize email filtering solutions and educate employees on how to spot and avoid phishing attempts.
Preventing email phishing is one of the most important steps a fleet manager can take to ensure their employees are prepared. Without having solid policies in place to precent successful phishing attempts, your data will be open to hacking attempts.