Cyberattacks continue to threaten business continuity. Hackers are not going away. Business leaders, therefore, are obligated to install cybersecurity defences that effectively protect the personal information of consumers.
Cybersecurity is proving to be problematic for some companies. According to reports, over 50% of IT managers do not feel as though the security defences they have in place are sufficient to keep threat actors at bay.
Whilst cybersecurity technologies do a good job of protecting business networks, the vast majority of data breaches are caused by human error. This typically involves employees clicking on malicious links in an email, falling for spoof phishing tactics or misconfiguring cloud software.
IT security, therefore, should include strategies that educate and/or prevent your staff from making costly errors. It’s worth bearing in mind that 60% of small businesses that suffer a data breach go out of business. Failing to inform your staff is more costly than informing your staff.
Cybersecurity Awareness Training
When people understand the reasons behind performing certain tasks they are more prepared to follow through with instructions. Training your teams about the importance of cybercrime vigilance not only protects your business network but their personal finances.
Surveys show that some 3.4 billion email phishing attacks are sent every day. At some point, malicious malware is going to land in the inbox of every one of your employees.
Some phishing emails can appear as though they originated from a trusted source such as a bank, supply chain partner or an account manager. Implementing a zero-trust policy and training your staff to follow preordained protocols significantly improves your cybersecurity defences.
Invest in Patch Management Services
Software installed in computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets inevitably develops vulnerabilities that enable hackers to infiltrate your business network.
It is the responsibility of businesses to update the security patch following its release. However, the security update has to be performed on every device that has access to your network. Updates cannot be performed in a central location to cover every device — but they can be performed from a central location and update every device.
Patch management removed the burden of updating security patches from your employees. This is crucial if you have multiple apps and widgets that need updating.
Moreover, patch management gives you more control over software updates — and as we saw in the Kaseya VSA breaches, employees were tricked into installing ransomware distributed by the notorious REvil hacking group.
Utilise Cloud Backup
Storing data on cloud servers may not stop a cyberattack but it will negate a ransomware attack. In a ransomware attack, hackers hold your data hostage until you pay a ransom to release it.
By storing data in the cloud you always have access to your data — even after a successful data breach. Cloud backup also prevents employees from accidentally deleting sensitive data, another reason for GDPR enforcers to come down hard on non-compliant companies.
Although cybercrime can cause IT managers and C-Suite executives to have sleepless nights, taking the right measures to prevent threat actors from infiltrating your business network mitigates the risk.
