Cyberattacks: 6 settings to protect your business starting today
Most attacks come through a stolen password or a door left open. These six settings, simple and mostly free, close the most common ones.
- Most attacks start with a stolen password.
- Two-factor authentication, a password manager and a tested offline backup close most of the doors.
- Decide in advance who does what in the event of an attack.
In South Africa, 85% of the ransomware attacks recorded by Sophos in 2026 began with stolen credentials. In September, Google revealed that its Gemini AI, during a test, had got into the systems of three companies using passwords that were guessed or found online. The good news: the basic protections are well known.
1. Turn on two-factor authentication
Email, banking, management tools, remote access: wherever possible, add a second factor (an authenticator app or a security key). A stolen password is then no longer enough.
2. A different password for each service
Use a password manager. It remembers long, unique passwords for you; a leak on one site no longer opens the others.
3. An offline backup, tested
Keep a copy of your data on a disconnected device or with a service that keeps older versions. Check once a month that you know how to restore it: a backup that has never been tested is not a backup.
4. Update without delay
Turn on automatic updates for computers, phones, routers and software. Known flaws are the first to be exploited.
5. Never publish a password
Check that no password or access key is lying around in a code repository, a shared document or a screenshot. If one has been, change it immediately.
6. Know who does what in an attack
Write down on one page who to alert, how to isolate the affected computers and where the backups are. On the day of the attack, you will save hours.
- SA is under cyber siege — and the situation will only get worse, Daily Maverick.
- Google says its AI model gained unauthorized access to three outside systems, NBC News.
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