ZIMBABWE has now recorded its fair share of wild hacks, with a recent hack on the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) topping the charts.

This should be an eye-opener to other people and institutions of what could happen if you sideline yourself from this so-called cyber war.

A malware was deployed on a system with the intention to deregister students, delete results and destroy the portals, rendering the whole system useless and somewhat beyond repair.

This is a great example and should be taken as a great reminder of how vulnerable everyone is to cyber attacks regardless of who you are.

If Nust’s system can be hacked and we expect them to be on top of these things, one may begin to wonder what might be in store for them. Cyber-attack is a big deal and could seriously damage your business and reputation.

This recent event shows a flaw in management since we now hear that the university is fighting to get the system running again and has lost a lot of files, which should not have been a problem if they were backing up their systems on a portable device or cloud storage.

It is always essential to back up data to prevent loss when such things happen and regularly test that you can restore your backedup data. It is also healthy to always keep an eye on operating system and security software updates to keep up with security upgrades for recent viruses and attacks. This will ensure your security flaws are fixed.

You may also need to ensure your computers, laptops and mobile devices are clean and well protected from malware or viruses using security softwares and these should include anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-spam filters.

Cyber-attacks usually go for weak firewalls, which is defined as a piece of software or hardware that sits between your computer and the internet.

This firewall acts as a gatekeeper for all incoming and outgoing traffic and having this set-up checked regularly will protect your institution’s internal networks. It takes an IT administrator for this, but recording all computer equipment and software being used by your business is useful to make sure they are secure and are prompt to prevent forbidden access.

As a business, there comes a time when your staff can be the first and last line of defence against cyber attacks, so training your staff to know and identify these threats will keep your business secure. Do not take a rest because you have not yet been cyber attacked, your day may come sooner than you expect. Consider cyber insurance to protect your business. Gracious Kaunda