As we head into Thanksgiving—menus planned, guests invited, travel set—one thing often missing from the checklist is a plan for when things go sideways online. A cyber incident response plan is the playbook your team follows after a breach, ransomware event, or other attack.
Logging out is a task so simple yet always forgotten, putting businesses at risk. While this practice may seem minor, it greatly enhances your online security and protects your data from unauthorized access.
Why Logging Out Matters
Logging out matters primarily due to security and privacy.
Many businesses assume that passing a PCI audit means they’re “secure.” It doesn’t. PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) is vital—but it focuses primarily on how you store, process, and transmit cardholder data. Modern attacks target far more than payment flows, and gaps outside PCI scope can still lead to costly breaches, downtime, and reputational damage.
Unexpected events such as natural disasters, hardware failures, or cyberattacks can quickly upend your operations. While a well-built business continuity plan (BCP) can minimize those risks, that’s only if it’s properly developed and maintained.
Passwords have been a staple of online security for decades, but relying on them alone is no longer enough. Cybersecurity experts now emphasize the importance of adding layers of protection to defend against today’s more advanced threats.
Why your security strategy must go beyond passwords
Cybersecurity experts at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) now warn that passwords are fundamentally vulnerable and should be avoided whenever possible.
