5 Ways To Reduce Cyber Security Risks for Your Business

Cybercrime has seen a drastic increase over since the start of the pandemic, with cybercriminals finding new ways and means to maximise their attacks. As a large section of the workforce continues to work remotely or as a part of a hybrid working model, businesses now find themselves in the need of reinforcing their security infrastructure.

Not only are home networks more prone to cyber attacks compared to corporate networks, the low likelihood of remote employees following all the best practices around safe data practices makes the situation all the more testing.

However, it’s most definitely not an issue that can’t be fixed! Here are five simple ways your business can ensure that your cyber security strategy works for your people – wherever they might be.

Hackers thrive on enterprises that are slow to react to vulnerabilities in commonly used software and apps, so make sure your organisation stays agile by keeping software updated.

Updates often contain security upgrades essential for keeping devices and data safe. Many also include improved features and functionality, so it makes sense from a productivity and innovation perspective as well.

It’s important that all staff are not only aware of threats to cyber security but also know how to deal with them.A robust password policy is always a good place to start. The strongest passwords are made up of at least three random words using lower and upper-case letters. Adding numbers and symbols makes them even stronger. 

Never use the same password for multiple accounts and avoid using obvious terms such as the name of your partner, child, family members, or pets. Also avoid using your place of birth, a holiday destination or anything to do with sports teams.

Accidentally clicking on phishing links is one of the most common causes of data breaches. Successful phishing attacks are often the first step of a much more devastating security breach, so training staff to recognise and respond to phishing in the proper way is essential.

Consider carrying out a company-wide cyber security risk assessment of employees, encouraging staff to attend training, or even contacting a penetration testing agency.

Training teams for cyber security resilience is an essential part of any successful organisation, but technology has a role to play too. 

Modern firewall solutions exist to screen and tackle cyber attacks before they get the chance to wreak havoc on your systems and force costly downtime (or worse!). They can prevent known threats, limit unauthorised file transfers and neutralise as-yet unknown threats like malware by analysing malicious behaviours. 

Many organisations treat security and connectivity as two separate entities. In fact, they are one and the same. Or at least they should be.

If security isn’t embedded into every bit of your infrastructure and all the tools that run on it, you have to treat it as an add-on. This means you’re going to have to engage with a separate supplier, which not only creates more admin from an operational perspective but could also give you more systems and applications to deal with. 

Most importantly, if your network isn’t inherently secure without the need for third-party add-ons, it won’t be as protected as it could be.