Industries, at large, depending on the availability and security of their businesses to ensure they survive in the wild competition. With the advent of modernization, computers were tasked to keep, compile, and operate on large chunks of data on daily basis. This revolutionized the way we think and perceive about data. And The most important thing about using computer systems for businesses is to keep the data safe from cyber intrusion.
This has become a field of its own with specialized operatives that are keeping their guard on and making the data houses impenetrable. Cyber security is considered the most important for businesses because each year, we are facing acuter threats from hackers. It would not be an overstatement to say that we are under constant siege from the invisible enemy.
In this post, we will discuss the importance of cyber security for businesses.
Small Business Vs Large Business
According to research, very large businesses are more prone of getting cyber attacks than that of the small businesses. Still, it does not mean that small businesses should not take necessary steps to keep their online information from falling into the hands of hackers. The alleged reason why big corporations are being hit by the shady scammers is their visibility. Everyone knows about them!
So, there is no immunity when it comes to the virtual world, and any neglect of security and the safekeeping of data can cost much more than people estimate.
With the rampant pandemic, businesses are relying more on technology, specifically the internet, to manage all the aspects of their businesses. Yet every year, we are facing graver threats in the virtual arena, despite advancements in counter measures.
In the US alone, there will be over 4,000 ransomware attacks each day. This is over 300% increase from the data of 2015. Across the Atlantic, the UK has suffered around 130,000 attacks in 2018 alone.
Importance Of Cyber Security For Businesses
There is no way you can downplay the threats that both small and large businesses face from online attackers. Here are some of the ways that you can keep your corporate secrets safe from prying eyes.
Adequate Use Of Technology
It does not matter if you have a small business or a large multinational conglomerate, you need to invest in your technology infrastructure.
Following are some of the cyber security measures, for both long- and short-term peace of mind:
- Firewalls
- Encrypted Connections
- Data Leak Protection
- Ransomware Protection
- Strong Spam Filters
- Email Spoofing Prevention
- Email Scanning
- Use Of Antivirus Software
In addition to these there are other strong points that can help you to keep your private data from falling into the wrong hands.
Data Backup
This is a fail-safe that is employed by all cautious enterprises. In this regimen, a company updates its pool of sensitive information regularly. The data saved through this method is kept on different servers from the operational ones and encrypted to secure the contents. This will helps in reduction of chances that a hacker could get into your system files and take your whole data hostage.
Essentially, you need to rent far-off facilities to ensure anonymity and security.
And there is a recent trend in the business community to keep offline backups of sensitive information. Using this method, a company can switch on and off a server in case of an attack.
Prep & Investment
In the past, the function of an IT department in a company was to assign profiles to the employees and help them with tasks like laptop repair or pc repair. Now, there is so much that said the department of a company needs to do.
A company, whether small or large, needs to invest in the infrastructure and training of the IT department. This encompasses teaching them methods to be secure from all sorts of social engineering attacks, such as phishing, spear-phishing, etc.
Also, this practice starts with recruitment. As a company, you can only be too sure about cyber security by hiring qualified personnel with ample experience. After that, you can move to pre-induction and post-induction training to make sure they are equipped with all the right tools and training to keep your data safe.
Passwords
If you ask a cyber security professional to pinpoint the most common in-house threat to a business, it is weak and predictable passwords. There are a number of cases when weak passwords, coupled with outdated system security features, have wreaked havoc to both large and small businesses.
Here are some of the ways that can help you:
- Steer clear from typical characters and norms.
- Short length for passcodes, such as baby’s name or pet’s name, is a grave mistake.
- Coming up with obvious words and passphrases that are widely used inside the company or industry.
When you are dealing with corporate data, you need to be extra careful about the health of all the measures you are putting in place to save them.
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Incidence Response Plan (IRP)
In case of data breach, your Incidence Response Plan determines whether you are capable to come out of that pit or not. So, an IRP should be at the core of your data governance program to ensure maximum security.
And there are the few steps for a standard IRP are:
- Identify your secure backup and restore to it.
- Communicate with the law enforcement agencies at the earliest.
- Isolate the source of infection through forensic units.
- Secure the devices and systems that are not affected by the attack.
Are You Taking Any One Of Them?
When you are invested in the security of your company, you get to reap the rewards of secure data and consumer trust. In case your corporate information is somehow compromised, you need to make sure that all the systems will get back to normal as soon as possible. In the previous sections, we have highlighted the importance of cyber security for businesses and a guide that shows some perils a business faces each day. Additionally, the guide can help you in keeping your digital assets safe and secure.