Every nonprofit and association in Washington DC depends on reliable technology to serve its community. The problem is, cyber threats keep getting smarter, faster, and harder to spot. Even smaller organizations can find themselves in the crosshairs.
You handle sensitive data that is valuable to bad actors, whether its financial records or personally identifiable information from stakeholders, employees or volunteers. But you won’t just be facing data loss if you encounter a breach. The real cost will be your community’s trust, your ability to operate and your mission.
While the threats are real, so are the IT security solutions in DC and beyond. While a managed IT services will help you implement a strategic data protection strategy, even simple steps can drastically reduce your organization’s online risk. Let’s start with three valuable tips to increase your cybersecurity and have safe browsing practices in your organization.
Why Cybersecurity Matters for Washington DC Nonprofits and Associations
Cybercrime has become a massive global industry that affects millions of people and organizations every year. Nonprofits and associations, often working with limited budgets and smaller IT teams, face an even greater risk. Even though the payoff might not be as substantial as that of a larger enterprise, attackers often view them as easy targets because their chances of success seem greater with the typical outdated systems and weaker protections in these environments.
If they successfully breach your systems, these attacks can create serious problems for your whole organization. Cybercriminals may steal staff or stakeholder identities, drain bank accounts, or use ransomware to lock down critical files while demanding payment. They may also leak or sell personal data from your donors, staff, volunteers, or the communities you serve, causing long-term damage that goes well beyond the initial incident.
Fixing these incidents can be costly, and the fallout often goes beyond a temporary hit to your budget. Recovery costs usually pull money away from mission-critical programs, while staff, volunteers, and stakeholders may feel added stress that takes a toll on their work. Worst of all, a breach erodes the reputation and trust nonprofits rely on to attract donors and carry out their mission.
To avoid these outcomes, you must make IT security a vital part of your operations. Here are three ways you can start reducing your risk immediately.
Tip #1: Protect Donor and Member Data by Using Secure HTTPS Websites
You probably spot this in your browser every day. HTTP and HTTPS may look nearly the same in a web address, but the difference between them is significant.
- HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol
- HTTPS adds an important layer: “Secure.” That “S” means the site uses encryption to protect the data you send and receive. Without it, information like passwords, credit card numbers, or personal details travels in plain text, making it easy for cybercriminals to intercept.
When a site uses HTTPS, it safeguards sensitive data through encryption, scrambling information so that even if attackers intercept it, they can’t read or use it. Think of HTTP as having a phone call in public on speaker phone, and HTTPS as a private phone call in a language only the person on the other end understands.
You can quickly check whether a site uses HTTPS by looking at the URL in your browser. A secure site will begin with “https://” and usually display a small padlock icon next to the address. Always check for this before divulging sensitive information, like when:
- Making online donations
- Logging into member portals
- Sharing personal data
A few quick checks can stop data theft and safeguard financial transactions. They also protect your organization and its supporters as they move through online spaces.
Tip #2: Strengthen Account Security with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Today, you need more than just a password to defend your accounts from unauthorized access. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is a simple but powerful security tool to add an extra layer of security.
With MFA, you confirm your identity using two or more authentication methods:
- Something you know: Your password, a PIN or a security question (something you know)
- Something you have: A code sent to your phone’s authenticator app, text message, or a hardware token
- Something you are: A biometric identifier like a fingerprint
Passwords alone are often easy for hackers to guess, steal, or crack. But when you combine these tactics, it makes it almost impossible for attackers to break in and access sensitive data. Even if someone steals your password, they can’t access your account without that second layer of proof.
For nonprofits, this means stronger protection for donor information, financial accounts, and internal systems.
While adopting MFA for all logins might feel like a hassle, the small inconvenience will serve as a huge barrier to bad actors. It’s typically simple to set up and you can enable MFA in many places you already use daily, like your email provider, accounting software, cloud services, banking platforms, and donor or member management systems.
Tip #3: Stay Protected by Updating Browsers, Software, and Devices Regularly
Did you know that outdated technology doesn’t just slow you down or prevent you from optimizing on modern technology? It can also create an easy entry point for hackers into your data and systems, who target known vulnerabilities.
As cyber threats evolve, developers will regularly release updates to fix weaknesses in browsers, operating systems, and software that cybercriminals could exploit.
Delaying or skipping updates puts your nonprofit at risk. Even a single missed update on a computer, server, or application can expose donor records, financial data, or internal communications. The longer you wait, the greater the chance an attacker will find and exploit those gaps.
By installing these updates, you close the security gaps before attackers can take advantage of them, while also benefiting from increased performance and reliability to complete your important work.
Here are a few suggestions on how to make updates feel effortless:
- Enable automatic updates whenever possible on your devices and applications so you don’t have to remember to check.
- Establish a regular schedule to review and apply updates to systems that can’t update automatically, like servers or specialized software.
- If your nonprofit works with a managed IT services provider, IT support, or other outsourced IT security, they should manage updates and monitor patching for you as part of their service.
Ready for Stronger Security? Build It with designDATA
Cyber threats can be intimidating, but you can make it harder for cybercriminals to gain access to your information by strengthening your IT security. You can start making a difference right away with some simple steps, like prioritizing HTTPS, enabling multi-factor authentication, and making regular updates to your tools.
However, your organization will require a more comprehensive cybersecurity strategy to stay ahead of evolving threats. From safeguarding donor records to protecting critical systems, you need layered defenses and expert guidance.
Our managed IT and cybersecurity solutions at designDATA will help you offload your cybersecurity strategy to professionals who know what you need to stay safe. Connect with us today to learn how we can help build a stronger, safer IT environment for your organization, while you focus on your mission.
