Chief Technology Officer Shares Security Tips for Working from Home

IncubatorCTX, an entrepreneurial hub located on the campus of Concordia University Texas, hosted a virtual presentation from Bill Alderson, the chief technology officer and founder of HOPZERO, to talk about network security and ways to protect your data during COVID-19.

About HOPZERO

HOPZERO is a network security company that was one of the first companies to become a member of IncubatorCTX.

Their innovative security solutions are completely unique. Instead of focusing on limiting hackers, they put a virtual leash around data, limiting how far sensitive information can travel. After many years of work, the company was recently awarded a utility patent.

Importance of Network Security

Businesses and corporations store valuable data in servers. Cybercriminals attempt to hack into these databases and retrieve sensitive information, such as trade secrets, customer details and more. Security breaches have costly financial consequences.

One security incident costs average businesses in the United States $7.91 million. In addition to operational costs to address the problem, organizations are also fined by the government when consumer information is exposed. A data breach can also stain an organization's reputation, stifling growth and revenue.

"The smaller the organization, the more vigilant they should be to make sure they have their security as well managed as can be," Alderson explained.

Firewalls are used to keep criminals out. Unfortunately, it's not a question of if a company's server will be hacked but when. After a criminal gets past the firewall, they are free to take data outside of the server.

HOPZERO has revolutionized network security by looking at the issue in a completely new way. Instead of focusing on keeping cybercriminals out of servers, HOPZERO keeps the important data stored on servers from leaving by creating a sphere of trust that packets of important data cannot leave. So even if cybercriminals get to the server, a server with HOPZERO's solution automatically destroys any data that they attempt to take outside of the sphere of trust.

"It's the solution that the entire world has been begging for," Alderson said.

COVID-19 & Network Security

As a majority of people have transitioned to working from home, it's more important than ever for organizations and their employees to be vigilant.

Employees working from home access their company's network through their personal WiFi. If they click on something that enables cybercriminals to gain access to their computer, cybercriminals can gain access to your company's network and the important data stored on the network.

Alderson shared tips to help organizations and employees protect data while working from home:

• Employees must avoid clicking on any links sent through email.
• Employees should use a secure internet connection.
• Organizations should backup data offline on an external drive ASAP.
• Organizations must keep external drives unplugged when not uploading files (otherwise, cybercriminals can access files on external drives).
• Organizations should consider keeping multiple backups that are updated daily, weekly and monthly.