Cybercrime has been one of the most talked about issues of the last couple of years. We have seen a huge rise in the number of cyberattacks recently, and they have shown no signs of slowing down. In retrospect, the increase should have perhaps been expected, especially when it came to the attacks on individuals. If we think about the number of people who were suddenly being forced to do all of their business online with no real sense of the dangers out there, of course, there were going to be people looking to take advantage of them. It should also be noted that the atmosphere that everyone was living in had a tremendous impact too. Postal service was being disrupted, vaccine-related scams were everywhere, and so all sorts of spam messages were going to be taken seriously by people who maybe did not understand what they were looking at. It was a dream scenario for cybercriminals.
But when it comes to businesses, everyone is facing a slightly different proposition. There were so many ransomware attacks that governments worldwide were forced to intervene and announce plans for how they would handle it. What’s more, business owners were dealing with staff working from home, and wondering if they were taking all of the proper measures to protect themselves and their work computers against cybercrime. If you are looking for ways that your business can give itself a boost in security, here are a few tips to help you get started.
Assume Your Staff Knows Nothing About Cybersecurity
Let’s start with how you can help your staff to get into better cybersecurity habits. You would certainly hope that your team would have a grasp on the essentials of how to look after their own security, but it is never a good idea to assume this. Taking these sorts of things for granted is one of the quickest ways to run into trouble with cybercrime and to open yourself up to risk. It is particularly important if your team is still working from home, as a lot of people are. If your staff are using work computers that have sensitive information, then it is so important that they are taking the proper steps to protect that.
With that in mind, it is well worth investing in training for your employees to bring them up to speed, even if it is only the basics. Remind them that they should be watching out for any suspicious emails or messages, even if they seem to be coming from you. Remind them that they should be keeping their security software up to date, and that they should be changing their passwords regularly. Encourage them to use two-factor authentication and random password generators to ensure that they do not fall into the usual password traps. The more that you can help them to get into these good habits, the better security you will have.
Invest In Good Security Software And Advice
Right now, every company is thinking about where they can make cuts to their budget. The rising cost of living around the globe is hitting everybody hard, and there can be no doubt that the months ahead are going to be extremely difficult. However, when it comes to your security, you must remember that this is not an area where you can afford to take shortcuts. Free versions of security software, for example, may seem like a good idea. But even if they can protect you against a lot of the everyday threats, they are no guarantee against anyone who is even slightly determined to get around basic security.
If you are not sure what your business needs in terms of cybersecurity, it is well worth talking to a specialist. Every business has its own specific security needs, not to mention specific areas where they may be at risk. A lot of business owners may be worried about how to protect their information in the cloud, for example. If you run an IT business, your needs may well be a lot more complex than a lot of companies in other sectors. For example, if you are developing software, you want to know that you are taking every step possible to ensure that you are identifying potential security issues before you take things any further. Application fuzzing is one of the best ways to detect known, unknown and zero-day vulnerabilities, and if you are wondering why you should fuzz, talk to the team at ForAllSecure. They have partnered with Fortune500 companies across a range of different industries to help them secure continuous security.
Ensure That Data Is Available To The People Who Actually Need It
This point is particularly important for any business that has grown significantly over the last few months. When you are just starting out, it makes sense for every team member to have access to everything. You will know that start-ups require people to wear several different hats and to jump onto tasks as and when they arise. But as your company grows, you need to ensure that you are limiting access to information that may be sensitive. Your clients and customers place a great deal of trust in you, and it is important to honor that trust.
With that in mind, you need to think a lot more carefully about who has access to what. If you have been putting everything into shared folders, or giving passwords to new starters for everything, it is time to go back to the drawing board. Sit down with your senior members of staff and be brutally honest about who actually needs access to this data. This will allow you to keep the most sensitive data a lot more securely than you would otherwise. And from a worst-case scenario point of view, it will help you to identify where any leaks in security are coming from should your business come under attack.
Take Out Insurance Just In Case
Speaking of worst-case scenarios, you are not going to be able to predict when those rainy days will happen. The last couple of years have shown us just how chaotic the market can be, and that challenges can arise out of absolutely nowhere. Looking ahead at what the next few months can bring, there are so many reasons why you should be giving your company as much of an umbrella as you can muster. One of the most effective things that you can do is to ensure that your business is properly covered by your insurance policy.
Good business insurance helps you to have a lot more peace of mind when it comes to the issues that could take your company out of action for any length of time. With things moving as quickly as they are right now, we all know that being out of action for even a month or two could put your whole company in serious jeopardy. There is also the question of being sued for damages by any wrong parties, and legal costs for any attorneys that you may need to hire. Business insurance will not stop the worst-case scenarios from happening, but it will help you to offset some of the damage.