Member Article

Essential Tips for Cyber Security

Many businesses still underestimate the impact cyber breaches can have.

With cyber crime costing businesses billions a year, and causing many to close, it’s time to start taking the issue seriously.

To ensure your business doesn’t become another statistic, here are some essential tips for cyber security.

Identify All Possible Threats

‘Cyber Risk Reviews must consider IT in your facilities such as AirCon, Lifts, Doors, Alarms & CCTV not just networks’ – Cevn Vibert, Industrial Cyber Security Advisory Director at Vibert Solutions

Before taking any other action, work out how secure your business is currently. The best option to take is a cyber security audit, which will allow you to understand where you are at the moment and identify any potential threats to your business.

Take into account internal concerns as well as external. Not all threats will be obvious! For example, employees using infected home devices at work can cause just as much harm as a hacker.

Backing up data regularly and installing malware is essential to protect your business from attacks. However, it’s also important to stay up to date with the latest cyber threats.

The list of potential threats can seem endless! From cookie theft to key logging, there are many risks out there that you may not be aware of. So, it pays to keep updated! Also, it’s important to be aware that new variants of old scams might surface. For example, phishing scams come in many forms, and can be very deceptive.

The world of cyber crime is constantly evolving, so to protect your business, stay up to date with the latest scams.

Make Cyber Security a Business Priority

‘Don’t wait for an incident to occur, act now to protect the network and assets within it. Failure to do so can have significant impacts financially and impact the reputation of an organisation to a degree which they may not recover from’ – Dan Driver, Head of Perception at Chemring Technology Solutions

Once your risk assessment is complete, it’s time to put a strategic plan together. Have risk management policies in place and ensure you’ve informed all employees of the changes. This includes outside contractors and suppliers. Ensure everyone associated with your organisation is compliant with your security plan. Anyone who isn’t could threaten the entire process!

Take extra care when it comes to reviewing your password policy. All devices should use ideally use 2-factor authentication wherever possible.

Even after implementing your plan, keep monitoring and testing security controls. If you’re aware of any abnormal activity, you can take action against it!

Leverage Existing Schemes

‘The most important stuff isn’t complex. Getting the basics right with Cyber Essentials can greatly reduce the threats’ – Richard Bach, Co-Founder & Director at XQ Cyber If you’re in the dark about how to go about protecting your business, there are a number of schemes and solutions out there to help you.

The UK government-backed Cyber Essentials scheme can protect up to 80% of all potential attacks! Alternatively, GCHQ Certified Training can give you an in-depth understanding of cyber security and how to protect your business.

Assume You’ll Be Hacked

‘Prepare and test a plan to identify, communicate and recover to ensure you can rapidly resume business with limited impact’ – Sam Smith, Head of Digital Risk and Security at Cadent Gas Ltd

Prepare for all eventualities! If you’re prepared for a cyber attack, you can deal with it much more effectively.

Truthfully, every business is a potential victim of cyber crime. So, it’s important to know how your business would cope with an attack.

You should think about: • Limiting the number of employees with administrative access. • Ensuring your policies are regularly updated. • Staying up to date with legal requirements. • Making sure you have appropriate insurance in place. • Ensuring you know how your business would deal with a period of temporary downtime.

Taking this proactive approach will help you reduce the risk of an attack!

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Robert .