Cyber Security in NC Tribal Governments

Understanding the risks and being vigilant about your online documents so you can protect your organization and tribal members

I am sure we have heard of companies such as Target and Home Depot credit card machines and computers being hacked, that wiped all of their devices, or stole private consumer information. That could happen to anyone, at any time.

So I put together a brief presentation of the best ways to make sure your Tribal Government, accounts, your finances, and your information—stays secure.

Remain Vigilant:

It is imperative that companies remain vigilant when it comes to information security and take proactive steps to protect against data breaches.With security breaches potentially costing companies millions of dollars, is increasingly important that businesses have steps in place to protect confidential data.

Keep an offline backup

•Storing your information online or in “The cloud” is great, but just like your personal hard disks are prone to failure, the cloud is prone to a security breach. All the latest operating systems have made it painfully easy to keep a current backup of all your files, so buy a durable, affordable external drive and back everything up at least once a week. That way if cataclysmic hack happens, you don't have to start from scratch.

Create a culture of security

•Train all Tribal employees in information security best practices to reduce human error. Explain why information protection is important and conduct regular security audits of the office to assess security performance.

Strong Passwords

•Password strength is vital to your front line defense. Obviously your password should be a combination of letters and numbers, but don't stop at the bare minimum. Use uppercase letters in random spots. Substitute numbers for letters. Mash multiple word phrases together. Deliberately misspell those words. If you're feeling particularly hardcore, you can just create a random string of characters, but you will need to remember them. More breaches are caused by simple password intrusion than any other method and it can be a nightmare convincing customers to take even the most basic self-protections. On the admin side, the ability to log in with access to the overall records of the tribal government is likely the most significant cause of major breaches that exist; all could be easily prevented

Think prevention, not reaction

•In Conclusion, instead of just dealing with breaches as they happen, develop preventative approaches that are strategic, integrated and long-term, such as eliminating security risks at the source and permanently securing the entire document life-cycle in every part of the organization.