You need a solid strategy in place to protect the data belonging to your business. That should cover everything, from protecting a VPN for all workplace devices to encrypting private files, as well as protecting the data of everyone working with you or for you. But that’s not all; you also need a strong cyber security policy and a plan for handling cyber incidents that spell out your response options in the event of an attack.
Every firm must pay close attention to its cybersecurity infrastructure, cybersecurity policies, and readiness for ransomware attacks given the explosive growth of cyberattacks in 2023.
To protect your company’s data and the online security of your employees, you must abide by a few regulations. You might also think about choosing our Virtual Cyber Assistant service, which can help you gradually and affordably increase the cybersecurity maturity of your organisation.
Why should businesses care about safeguarding their data?
If you run a business, you presumably already know how important it is to protect sensitive customer and employee information as well as your organization’s data. This is frequently not only required by law (such as for companies covered by the GDPR), but it is also crucial for your brand’s reputation and ongoing operations. A cyber-attack or ransomware attack on your company can have a devastating impact on business operations, frequently result in several days of lost revenue, and have serious long-term repercussions.
Additional justifications for prioritising the integrity of your company’s data include the following:
- No matter how sensitive the information, if you send it or store it, you could face legal consequences if someone misuses it. Someone in the public could potentially exploit the private information you unintentionally leak about your company’s products to make a low-cost clone of it and resell it for a high price. This could hurt your financial situation and lessen the value of your brand.
- Building on the prior argument, ensuring digital security unquestionably gives your organisation a competitive edge. Keep your information secure if you’re concerned that your rivals will learn about new developments and enhancements to your goods or services.
- Data protection for your business is a self-preservation measure. Potentially, the value of the data contained in your digital assets exceeds the expense of securing it for your company. The best course of action is to routinely carry out evaluations like a straightforward Cyber Health Check, a Ransomware Risk Assessment, or a Breach Readiness Assessment. These evaluations might assist you in determining where your company stands in terms of cybersecurity maturity and what needs to be done to improve it.
You can undertake these evaluations with the assistance of a virtual cyber assistant, who can also collaborate with you on flexible terms to improve the areas where you may require assistance.
What Kind of Data Do You Need to Protect?
Any sensitive information that your company possesses, whether it be personal information or details on technological advancements, should be protected at all costs. For instance, if your business manufactures drugs or medical equipment, the research and development division is responsible for a treasure trove of trade secrets that other companies would kill to get their hands on.
It may also contain evidence that your business created a hazardous product, test results on rival medications, or innovative drug formulations. Additionally, accounting staff members deal with highly private financial information about revenue sources and expenses. If a disloyal employee divulges this information, it could have a negative impact on the stock price and financial success of your business.
Additionally, any corporate information that is even loosely connected to your company’s public image is always in danger. For instance, the administrators of your company’s blog or social media page should adhere to strict rules to ensure that it doesn’t contain any confidential information. A media leak can be just as damaging as one that occurs on a blog.
Finally, remember to constantly incorporate the human element into your organization’s cybersecurity policy and digital strategy. Every day you read about businesses that were breached or had their secrets stolen as a result of a worker’s negligent handling of their privileged credentials. The current Uber hack is the most recent instance in which a mistake of this nature took place.
All of your staff must receive training on how to safeguard your data from theft threats and, more significantly, how to prevent it from being utilised in a manner that could hurt your organisation if you want to keep your business safe from instances of this nature. Employee training in cybersecurity can benefit greatly from investment in top-notch programmes.
Simple Tips to Boost Your Organisational Data Safety
You may already be considering investing in professional cybersecurity assistance services and/or hiring an expert to assess your cybersecurity maturity, incident response procedures, etc. if you have a thorough understanding of the level of harm that a cyberattack or data leak may cause to your company.
Here are some simple actions you can take in the interim to increase your organization’s cyber resilience.
- Use monitoring to look for unusual behaviour. Using a cloud-based service that can identify suspicious activities, such as irregular login behaviour or IP addresses accessed from unidentified regions, is one approach to achieve this.
- Create restricted network zones and implement firewalls in your organization’s networks at key nodes. Anomalies like new users connecting from outside the firm or sensitive software being downloaded on company-owned equipment from outside sources like the internet or intranets should be kept an eye on these.
- Use numerous levels of encryption and make sure that access to confidential information is controlled and secured.
- Make sure there are no adverse impacts on the data or the company’s networks and systems before installing any new software, especially that which is not regarded as a “standard-issue” or “authorised” tool.
- Make sure staff members have received training on the “What You See Is What You Send” principle to avoid users from unintentionally transmitting sensitive information, such as credit card numbers in emails, when they don’t plan to.
- For all user logins, utilise ‘two-step’ authentication. This will guarantee that unauthorised people cannot access your company’s network or confidential corporate data.
- Firewalls should be installed on both PCs and mobile devices used by employees to prevent unauthorised access when they are working remotely.
- Use antivirus software, keep it updated as needed, and make sure it is routinely checked for harmful malware and cleaned out to ward off dangers.
- encrypt your data. Sensitive data may be protected in the quickest and most secure way possible, and doing so will also help businesses avoid data loss and unauthorised access.
- Since employees are ultimately in charge of the security of the entire organisation, it is important to regularly evaluate security controls and make sure they are instructed on how to use them effectively.
Conclusion
As you can see, digital security is extremely important for an organization’s reputation as well as its financial value. Companies must defend their data and information from cyberattacks since the consequences of a breach are severe.
Additionally, you need to have a solid plan in place for countering cyberattacks. The reality is that most organisations could and will eventually become compromised. It makes sense to be ready for such a situation and to educate your workers on it as well.
