Cyber security is crucially important in this day and age and should not be taken lightly. With technological advancements being made every single day, you might find it difficult to counter against the countless vulnerabilities and threats that pose a serious risk to your business.
In this article we’ll give you a brief run down on things that you can do to stay up to date with the cyber security in your business.
Risk Assessment
The first step is always assessing the risk of cyber threats to your business as some are more prone to be affected by them than others. Much like a jeweler’s store is more prone to burglary than a farm. Businesses are no different, with your organization’s data at risk of being stolen or compromised.
A good way to assess this is gathering information on what platforms is the majority of your sensitive data stored and kept on. Is it in a free cloud-based website? Is it all on paper secured in a filing cabinet? Do you use free email services to communicate sensitive data?
If your organization has the majority of it’s data online, regardless of whether it’s on your own server or not, there is always a risk.
Network Security
Connecting your business devices to untrusted networks such as free WiFi in airports or coffee shops can provide a gateway to cyber-attacks.
When setting up your network infrastructure, don’t neglect security. Filter both incoming and outgoing traffic at the network perimeter so that the only traffic required to aid your business is permissible. And when possible, monitor the traffic for unusual activities as they are a good sign of malicious activity on your network.
User Privileges And Rights
In many organizations, user privileges are ignored and for example, interns have admin rights to where they should only have basic user rights. This is a big problem because if everyone has administrator powers in a system that your organization users, that role is totally pointless and potentially dangerous because the more inexperienced users are likely to fall victims to a cyber threat and pose a great risk to your organization’s data.
Have a system in place for every role in your organization and match the user privileges appropriately for employee. Only have a select few high privilege accounts which are entrusted to monitor the other users and ensure safety within the organization.
User Education
Not every employee in your business is “techy” so basic guidelines for the use of the ICT facilities within your organization should be put in place. Regular training should be conducted to brief the employees on the threats that are more current and that pose the greatest threat so they are more aware.
Malware Protection
Last, but certainly not least, Malware protection. Does your ICT infrastructure have a firewall? Antivirus? Is it up to date? Have the operating systems been updated actively?
If the answer to any of those questions was no, then you should make it your top priority as those things can easily skip your mind. This is by far one of the easiest steps to take in securing your business against cyber threats.
Even by following these simple steps you’ll be well equipped and protected to deal with any current vulnerabilities and cyber attacks as well as any of the ones that may pose a threat to your organization in the future.