Let me tell you about a client we worked with last year. Mid-size company, decent security budget, smart people. They got hit with ransomware that cost them $2.3 million.

The entry point? An employee clicked a phishing link. No MFA on their email. Password was "Company2024!".

This isn't a story about sophisticated attackers. It's about skipping the basics.

What Even Is Cyber Hygiene?

Think of it like brushing your teeth. Nobody gets excited about it. It's boring. But skip it long enough, and you're going to have problems.

Cyber hygiene is the same idea - routine security habits that prevent most common attacks. We're talking:

Groundbreaking stuff, right? Except almost nobody does it consistently.

Why Most People Skip It

Here's the uncomfortable truth: good security is inconvenient.

MFA adds an extra step. Password managers take time to set up. Updates interrupt your workflow. So people skip them. They'll do it tomorrow. Or next week.

Then tomorrow becomes six months, and suddenly you're explaining to your boss why customer data is on a hacker forum.

The Stuff That Actually Matters

I'm not going to give you a 47-point checklist. Here's what moves the needle:

1. MFA on everything important

Email, banking, cloud storage. Turn it on. Yes, it's annoying. No, I don't care. This single step blocks 99% of automated attacks.

2. Different passwords for different accounts

Your Netflix password gets leaked. If it's the same as your bank password, you've got a bigger problem. Use a password manager - I don't care which one, just use one.

3. Update your stuff

That "update available" notification you've been ignoring for three weeks? It probably patches a security hole that attackers are actively exploiting. Just do it.

4. Think before you click

That urgent email from "IT" asking you to verify your password? Probably not from IT. When in doubt, pick up the phone and verify.

The Bottom Line

Cyber hygiene isn't glamorous. There's no fancy AI involved, no blockchain, no "next-gen" anything.

It's just doing the boring basics, consistently.

Most companies that get breached didn't need a bigger security budget. They needed to actually use what they had.

Start there.