Unfortunately, where the UK has seen huge advances in technology, we’ve also experienced a tremendous spike in business cyberattacks and breaches. This is largely due to more technologies meaning more vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit. Essentially, we’ve accepted that increased security risk has come as a trade-off for the adoption of better technologies. As such, cybersecurity has become a huge topic of importance for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
With the centralisation of databases and automation of activities, more business operations are becoming dependent on computer systems. These systems, while designed to be foolproof, often have vulnerabilities due to oversight and human errors. Hackers are taking every chance to bypass these systems and exploit developer mistakes to steal business data.
This leads up to the past year, where ransomware and information theft reports have skyrocketed. From LockBit to ShinyHunters, cybercriminal groups are only becoming more sophisticated and developing cybercrime into a service. But this has not deterred our small-to-medium-sized businesses from advancing our operations with technology.
So, here we guide your business through our top three tips for building a strong cybersecurity system. By following our expertise, you can work to protect your organisation, employees’ and customers’ data from threats.
Outsource business cybersecurity services from experts
Before we get to sharing our three tips, you may want to first consider your business’ IT cybersecurity knowledge. If you don’t have an in-house team with the ability for continuous threat monitoring, or expertise to help form your IT cybersecurity plan, you may want to look for external support.
Many companies today are investing in cybersecurity teams to monitor and protect their network. Where you may not have the time and resources to hire and maintain the internal cybersecurity team, an IT provider is there to fill the expertise gap. More importantly, most outsourced security teams offer scalability to match your business growth and subsequent tech needs.
Such teams consist of good-guy hackers also known as “white hat” hackers that continuously test and update cybersecurity systems. These IT specialists aim to look ahead and plan for contingencies, gather intelligence on upcoming threats and implement patches for your business.
For small-to-medium-sized businesses, there may not be enough in the budget for their own data security team, but that’s ok. Instead, reach out to a third-party data service or security provider to handle all your data security requirements.
Three tips for building strong business cybersecurity
Although finding the right IT support provider can help guide your IT strategy, ultimately your business should be working to enhance its own security. And, given that many small-to-medium businesses may lack costly cybersecurity technologies, establishing organisational security practices becomes essential.
Below we outline three key tips for strengthening your business’ cybersecurity system:
Ensure discipline and security protocols
In developing and maintaining robust cybersecurity, there are certain practices and protocols that your business must adopt. And as it suggests, the rules apply to your whole organisation. This means every employee and every department is responsible for your business security.
Firstly, everyone should know the security policies that apply to them and have access controls established to protect business infrastructure. Employees must be given clear guidelines regarding their access to the network, sources of data and communication channels. Systems must be in place to check if employees deviate from the established security protocols.
Although access controls can seem strict, their objective is to enforce online safety and encourage productivity. Therefore, setting access controls will vary for different roles to ensure employees aren’t prevented from doing their jobs.
One of the most dangerous attack tools hackers utilise to steal sensitive data is social engineering. Here cybercriminals pose as legitimate personnel using all kinds of communication platforms to trick the user into giving up personal or sensitive information. Social engineering tactics typically target your employees as they are constantly communicating with officials through multiple channels. To combat this, clear identity confirmation protocols must be in place to ensure safe and confidential messaging between personnel.
Furthermore, it is more important than ever to encourage an environment of safe and open reporting. In the case of social engineering threats, employees must be empowered to confidently identify and enquire about any suspicious person that they encounter online or within the office premises.
Routinely update your systems
The growing popularity of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) means your business operations will most likely be in the process of migrating to software platforms. With a wide range of services available via the cloud, managing your work has become more efficient and centralised. These may include enterprise resource management, inventory management, workforce and operation scheduling and database management among others. However, these advantages also come with the burden of software services.
All these systems come with built-in cybersecurity features that must be continually updated to ensure your business data is protected. With time, loopholes are revealed, and newer threats are constructed by hackers. By constantly updating your software systems, your company can stay one step ahead of the trends in cybercrime.
In addition to your software, hardware and operating system (OS) updates are crucial to maintaining a secure infrastructure. These updates provide key patches and bug fixes which similarly address newly recognised vulnerabilities in your hardware. Ensure you have automated security updates switched on for all business devices, as this will significantly reduce the risk of cyberattack to your systems.
Train your employees
Having awareness and knowledge of basic cybersecurity trends and threats is vital in combating large-scale attacks on corporations. As mentioned, since your employees are relying so heavily on technology to do their jobs, they must be aware of security best practices and device vulnerabilities.
Your employees must be aware of the variety of cyberattacks and malware that pose a risk to your business. As your workplace is constantly connected to the Internet, potential threats could include phishing, DDOS and click-jacking, amongst others. Consider the type of industry you operate in and if it leaves you vulnerable to any specific threats. For example, financial firms and healthcare are particularly prone to cyberattacks and breaches. This means your employees may require extra cyber training on vulnerable systems and safety practices.
What to include in cyber training
No amount of strategizing and advanced technology features will help if your employees act as weak points of your business cybersecurity. Ensure your cyber training includes and implements the following:
- Multi-factor authentication on every work-related device and account where sensitive information is stored and accessed. This prevents unauthorised access and strengthens password security.
- Phishing awareness to help employees understand how to avoid clicking on suspicious emails, identify phishing, and customise spam filters.
- Remote working security for WFA employees, educating on the dangers of public unsecured Wi-Fi, keeping devices locked and installing VPNs and firewalls.
- Data protection and privacy for those accessing, sharing, handling any kind of business and customer data. This will work hand in hand with GDPR and other industry related data regulations.
Finally, your company should invest in establishing backup facilities that routinely store and update the necessary database. Your employees will be a part of this backup and recovery process in the case of an attack. So, it is imperative that you cultivate an organisation-wide culture of vigilance. By proactively looking out for threats, companies can operate safely in these times of rising cybercrime. Establish key disaster response tasks for your departments in your disaster recovery plan to maintain business continuity.
Reach out to a Cyber Essentials certified provider
If you would like any further guidance on building and strengthening your business cybersecurity plan, reach out to our London-based IT support team at totality services. As Cyber Essentials certified, our cybersecurity experts can secure your systems and its data, simply call us for a no obligation chat about your requirements.