Cybersecurity is one of the top priorities for every business. Cyber attacks are becoming more and more common, and they happen to companies of all sizes and industries. Failure to protect themselves may result in devastating financial losses as well as loss in trust from their customers. Therefore, it’s important for businesses to not only implement sufficient security systems and policies but also constantly look for ways on how to strengthen them. Here are some of the key ways to do that.
Perform regular audits
The only way to know if your current cybersecurity methods will protect your business properly is by testing them. Most organisations will choose to perform penetration tests, however, for the most thorough results red team security services are recommended. As the title suggests, the purpose of the red team is to simulate the enemy (in this case the cyber attackers and hackers) in order to see how well the company can withstand such attacks.
This includes ransomware attack simulations, password guessing, WiFi and ethernet hacking, phishing emails and so on. The key benefit of this is that red team security is not limited by time or activities – a number of different tests are performed without the company’s preparation for them, so the most accurate and realistic results can be produced. Such an audit not only allows the efforts of the blue team (the defensive team) to be tested but also finds any vulnerabilities to fix.
Use up-to-date technology
Cyber attacks are becoming more intelligent and smarter by the day and so using conventional methods to protect your business may not be enough anymore. Therefore, always using the most up-to-date technology available is key in ensuring that your systems can fight off the most recent malware versions and other threats. This may include cloud storage for sensitive data, new encryption and backup methods, mandatory two-step verification and many more.
This is primarily the job of the blue team – the external or internal department which is responsible for defensive security. The systems you have in place must be capable of detecting any suspicious activity as quickly as possible and dealing with them smoothly and promptly. There should be regular monitoring on the systems to get rid of any potential vulnerabilities.
Increase cybersecurity awareness
Some of the biggest and most known organisations fail to protect themselves against cybersecurity threats. While it can be related to a failure of their protection methods and vulnerabilities that were not noticed on time, more often than not it happens due to a basic human error. Many of the attacks are aimed at the employees who work in the company. This can be through scam calls, phishing emails, insufficient passwords, using a work laptop for personal uses or other mistakes that may leak sensitive company data.
To prevent this from happening, every business should put a lot of their efforts into raising cybersecurity awareness in the culture of the company. The employees (both new and existing) should receive regular, updated training and reminders of the importance of cybersecurity. They should be able to recognise potential threats and know how to act or who to inform in such a situation. With the plethora of small business cyber security training nowadays, it shouldn’t be a challenge to find one that fits your budget.
