In the past, cybersecurity was a convenient bonus to businesses but was never considered to be necessary. However, we are in the 21st century and not the past. Cybersecurity is vital to ensuring the longevity of your business. A lack of defense can allow a competitor or even a bored teenager to cripple your company in minutes. Cybersecurity is about hoping for the best but expecting the worst. Your first line of defense should be the most difficult to penetrate. And if a hacker gets past your defenses, you should ensure to have an efficient disaster recovery system in place.
Standout from Competitors with Strong Cybersecurity.
The best defense is a good defense. Not just for your company, but also your customers. A weak cybersecurity network can lead to a public relations nightmare. It would be wrong to say this is industry-specific, though, of course, it will depend on what your business does. If you are storing customer information: addresses, telephone numbers, passwords, banking details, for example, then their protection is your responsibility. If it gets out that you have no protection in place, you may as well pack up your desk.
Protection Inside and Out.
It is not just your customers that will benefit from a robust security network. As stated previously, you may need to protect against competitors. They may not be able to hack into your system, but what if they have a key? Your cybersecurity network should be protected both inside and out. One of your disgruntled employees may decide to work for a competitor and take your intellectual property with them. Having strict security policies and monitoring software in place can deter any attempts of stealing information from the inside. Of course, a non-disclosure agreement can do the same, but an extra barrier never hurts.
Show off your secure cybersecurity network to your customers. Advertise your confidence. Doing so will show them you care for their security. That will place you a step ahead of a potential competitor who decided to cut corners and inevitably got caught out.
Defend against the Future, as well as the Now.
Who is responsible for the cybersecurity of a company will depend on its size. A large company will have specialized personnel to manage security, though the responsibility may lie with the owner if it is a smaller company. No matter whose responsibility it is, that person should have the future in mind. The way that cyber-attacks happen can change overnight. Defending against those attacks means always employing new strategies. A game of chess, if you like. To win the game, you should start with shoring up your base framework. Start with your email system, edge, and endpoints; if someone tries to get into your system, it will likely be via one of those three routes.
For the edge, it is worth your time at least considering top of the line firewalls or universal threat management devices.
For the endpoints of your system, you should look beyond antivirus software. Consider deep learning as a security utility.
There are fewer remote options for email protection. You can make use of spam filters as well as click protection though the best security you can employ is vigilance in your employees. It may be wise to consider launching an internal phishing attack to catch out any employees who are not aware of what they should and should not open. You can then educate them to avoid the same result in the event of a real attack.
It’s Rewind Time.
Securing your points of access is vital to any cybersecurity plan. However, your security should not stop at the entrance. You should also have a disaster recovery plan you can rely on. If things go wrong, you want to be able to reverse the effects as quickly and efficiently as possible. Failure to do so can cost you time and money. One way to do this is by making use of an image-based backup system. Such a system will take snapshots of your system every hour before backing it up to an external location, with a different operating system. Two such backup servers would be better than one. Viruses can be operating specific, hence the need for different operating systems. Such a system will allow you to get back to working within the hour, instead of the week needed on a more traditional backup system.
Remain Vigilant, but Also Remain Compliant.
A secure cybersecurity network can do a lot more for your company than you imagined. It is not just about protecting a few documents; it is about protecting your whole company. You must ensure that how you go about your security is compliant with any data protection laws. The EU’s own General Data Protection Regulation is just one example. Though not valid in the U.S. as of yet, there is no way to say that such regulations will never apply. Preparing for such an event in advance can leave you picking up the customers of competitors who failed to plan.