Check Digits

Secure your business with CyberHoot Today!!!

A Check Digit is a digit added to a string of numbers for error detection purposes. Normally, the check digit is computed from the other digits in the string. A check digit helps digital systems detect changes when data is transferred from transmitter to receiver.

Check digit algorithms calculate a check digit based on an original character string, such as an account number. The receiver recalculates the check digit to verify data entry accuracy. If the recalculated character string contains the correct check digit, the data is error-free and may be used. However, a character string that does not include the correct check digit indicates a transfer error, which signals that data must be re-entered and/or reverified.

When a check digit system is used, error detection and data implementation complexities and compromises are inevitable. Simple check digit systems easily understood by humans cannot detect errors with complete accuracy, unlike complex systems that use more complicated error detection algorithms.

What does this mean for an SMB or MSP?

The typical employee in an SMB or MSP doesn’t need to know what check digits are, although any staff members working in inventory management systems should be familiar with them. If there is any sort of Error Detection processes taking place, then staff should understand what these are used for and how they work.
 
Error Detection is at the Internet’s Foundation
Error Detection is an essential part of TCP/IP communications ensuring what you send from device A arrives at device B reliably and accurately without loss of content or data. Over-prescribed networks or excessively large flat networks can lead to more Error correction than is desirable due to excessive packet collisions and/or retransmits. If you find your network communications slowing down during peak periods, it may be time for a network engineer to come and examine the network’s performance. Managed Service Providers are an excellent source for such audits. They can also examine your Wi-Fi networks to determine coverage and a host of other helpful things.
 

CyberHoot’s Minimum Essential Cybersecurity Recommendations

The following recommendations will help you and your business stay secure with the various threats you may face on a day-to-day basis. All of the suggestions listed below can be gained by hiring CyberHoot’s vCISO Program development services.

  1. Govern employees with policies and procedures. You need a password policy, an acceptable use policy, an information handling policy, and a written information security program (WISP) at a minimum.
  2. Train employees on how to spot and avoid phishing attacks. Adopt a Learning Management system like CyberHoot to teach employees the skills they need to be more confident, productive, and secure.
  3. Test employees with Phishing attacks to practice. CyberHoot’s Phish testing allows businesses to test employees with believable phishing attacks and put those that fail into remedial phish training.
  4. Deploy critical cybersecurity technology including two-factor authentication on all critical accounts. Enable email SPAM filtering, validate backups, and deploy DNS protection, antivirus, and anti-malware on all your endpoints.
  5. In the modern Work-from-Home era, make sure you’re managing personal devices connecting to your network by validating their security (patching, antivirus, DNS protections) or prohibiting their use entirely.
  6. If you haven’t had a risk assessment by a 3rd party in the last 2 years, you should have one now. Establishing a risk management framework in your organization is critical to addressing your most egregious risks with your finite time and money.
  7. Buy Cyber-Insurance to protect you in a catastrophic failure situation. Cyber-Insurance is no different than Car, Fire, Flood, or Life insurance. It’s there when you need it most.

Each of these recommendations, except cyber-insurance, is built into CyberHoot’s product and virtual Chief Information Security Officer services. With CyberHoot you can govern, train, assess, and test your employees. Visit CyberHoot.com and sign up for our services today. At the very least continue to learn by enrolling in our monthly Cybersecurity newsletters to stay on top of current cybersecurity updates.

CyberHoot does have some other resources available for your use. Below are links to all of our resources, feel free to check them out whenever you like: 

Note: If you’d like to subscribe to our newsletter, visit any link above (besides infographics) and enter your email address on the right-hand side of the page, and click ‘Send Me Newsletters’.

Share this on your social networks. Help Friends, Family, and Colleagues become more aware and secure.