Cybercrime can strike at any time, so it pays for businesses to take preventative action if they want to avoid falling foul of common security complications.
Here are just five tips on how to protect your organization against many of the common threats and avoid becoming one of the 12.5 per cent of firms hit by an attack each year
Update Software
Hackers typically rely on the ability to exploit flaws in software to gain access to systems and data. The key to counteracting this is ensuring that you update any platforms and programs used within your business so that these vulnerabilities can be patched.
This applies not only to desktop computers, laptops and server hardware, but also to mobile devices, including those personal smartphones belonging to employees which are used for work purposes. Some Android handsets have even been found with malware installed prior to shipping, so the scale of this issue is significant.
Embrace Cloud Storage
Data is the lifeblood of any business, no matter its size, so if information is lost or stolen for any reason then you need to be able to recover it quickly and efficiently.
Cloud-powered storage solutions are increasingly common and affordable, although they are not completely immune to hacking in their own right, according to research from the National Cyber Security Centre.
Ultimately a cloud provider will be better equipped to cope with the ever-evolving criminal threats than any of its business clients, so backing up data remotely in this way is still worthwhile for security purposes.
Test Security Measures
Any good cyber security guide for businesses should point out that it is not simply enough to invest in systems designed to protect your organisation’s digital assets; you also need to check that they will actually work when faced with a genuine attack.
Penetration testing can do just that, allowing you to give the ethereal armour that surrounds your network and software solutions a thorough examination, subjecting it to real hacking techniques and strategies.
This goes hand in hand with conducting a risk assessment to work out the exact nature of the threats that you are up against, and where any weak spots might lie so that they can be tended to.
Train Staff
Malicious outsiders might seem like they will be the most significant peril facing your business, but cyber security can also be compromised from within. And perhaps unsurprisingly the majority of breaches are the result of employees making a mistake.
Because of this, training workers is a vital step on the path to improving your business’ resilience and making sure that data is not put at risk unnecessarily.
Educate staff about the range of cyber hazards that exist, covering everything from device loss to ransomware. Also make sure that you foster a culture that emphasises safe, secure use of IT resources so that this ethos is spread naturally throughout your workforce. Endpoint protection is crucial when it comes to staff cyber security training.
Don’t Ignore Wi-Fi Security
Network access points are obviously an area of vulnerability for any business, and in the age of Wi-Fi it has become even easier for internal infrastructures to be compromised by malicious outsiders.
Making sure that your Wi-Fi connectivity is safe and secure should be at the top of the agenda. Thankfully this is relatively straightforward to achieve and will have a major impact on how well protected your business is against cyber threats.
Password protection and regular monitoring to detect suspicious activity will be necessary, especially if you want to offer Wi-Fi to customers and clients. Just as with the other risks to security covered above, the most common reason that Wi-Fi weaknesses are successfully exploited by attackers is complacency on the part of businesses.
Overall it’s vital that you secure your business effectively. The team at Fidus Information Security know this all too well and it’s an area that many businesses overlook at a great cost.
Image Source: Daniel Falcao