How SME’s can strengthen their cyber security
Small and medium sized businesses are often misunderstood and seen to be less competent when it comes to effective cyber security, causing them to be lucrative targets for cyber criminals.
In the event of a cyber breach, let’s a say a ransomware incident in this instance, large enterprises are in a better position of having to deal with the cost of recovery of a shutdown. ( Which by the way can be 10 times the amount of a ransom demand). SME’s unfortunately wouldn’t have the level of means or capacity to deal with such a disruption, especially when the repercussions are damaging to customer relationships and reputation.
Cyber criminals are constantly exploring new ways to exploit businesses, whilst they can’t be stopped, attacks can be prevented and contained. All businesses should be operating on the assumption that they are likely to be attacked. We go through key cyber security strategies your business can implement in order to strengthen your overall cyber security posture.
Build a strong security culture
Forming a strong security culture should be at the top of your priority list, after all it’s not just an IT issue, it’s a issue that the entire organisation should be aware of. But this is only effective when the message comes from the top. If the c-suite isn’t taking security seriously, neither will employees. We recommend starting with security awareness training! We already know many breaches come down to human error, but one way to minimise this is by educating your employees on how they can identify malicious content and emails, and encourage them to report these to security teams. Prevention is always the key to a breach!
Work on identifying your security vulnerabilities
We know that many businesses in a haste implemented technologies in the pandemic to support remote workers. But as a result, 72% of U.K organisations have put down vulnerabilities as the main cause of damaging cyber attacks.
One way businesses can uncover vulnerabilities and eliminate them before they are exploited is by implementing a full-proof vulnerability management program.
A good and fully managed program will scrutinise your IT infrastructure and determine the significance and criticality of the vulnerability based on levels, and then provide next steps for remediation.
Stay on top of your cloud security
More and more businesses are turning to the cloud in order to provide the infrastructure needed for today’s needs. Whilst cloud-basted systems are accessible and efficient, it’s critical for businesses to cloud platforms that offer comprehensive security.
But that’s not all, cloud and security teams need to be consistently evaluating their cloud for any weak spots that may affect their overall security posture. Misconfigurations are one of the biggest risks to cloud environments today, accounting for on average 230m daily!
For more information on how to keep your business protected, contact our cyber security experts today.
