How to Improve Cybersecurity at Your Business

Over the past decade, cyber security and digital security have taken center stage in the business world. That is not surprising because in just one year, US companies experienced over 1,200 data breaches. The result is that over 440 million records were exposed. It is estimated that every 39 seconds a hacker attempts to access a computer.

All Data Should Be Encrypted

Your digital system manages sensitive data. This data could include information about your business, your employees, or your customers. There are nefarious individuals who would love to get their hands on this data and exploit it. That’s why you are responsible to make sure that all the data you handle is encrypted. You may want to use blockchain for your internal network as it will encrypt every transaction that happens in its blocks. Digital security is not just for large firms. Small businesses are at risk but most small businesses lack the robust digital security apparatuses that larger firms have. This makes them an attractive target for nefarious individuals. Digital security requires more than installing antivirus software or using a firewall. Cyber criminals have become sophisticated in their attacks. This means that business security needs to have a similar level of sophistication.

Jealousy Control Information Transfer

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown have meant several changes in how business is conducted. These changes have amplified the need for tight control over information transfer. Prior to the change to work at home, bringing your own devices to work was a common practice. The idea was that workers could use devices they felt comfortable with. However, this practice can be disastrous. When an employee brings their device to work, they need to use sensitive login and security information. When they take their device home with them, that login information is still present. If their personal device was compromised, business documents and sensitive information could fall into the wrong hands.

Now, with the work from home environment, workers may need to access the company’s server via a program or portal designed to keep a company's information safe. Unfortunately, what is happening is that work from home employees are finding it difficult to navigate security systems that they did not have to think about previously. Frustration has led some to send private information to other employees or clients using their personal email. In doing this, they have put a lot of sensitive information at risk.

Many businesses have been able to get around this challenge by quickly migrating all of their services to the cloud. This way, their employees only need to worry about secure login information as opposed to a complete secure ecosystem.

Keep Your System Up-to-Date

The first step, and often the most overlooked step, in limiting the risk of a cyber attack is to use the most up-to-date version of the software you have on your system. This means keeping the operating system and every application on your laptop, mobile device, desktop, and cell phone up-to-date. On the surface, this appears to be a simple thing to do. But it becomes challenging if you are using customized software that requires a team of technicians to keep it up-to-date. Having a large digital environment may require you to dedicate a sizable amount of time and resources to keep applications on various devices up-to-date. A patch management system could be used to automatically keep desktops, remote users, and laptops up-to-date with software updates and security patches.

Employee Training Is at the Heart of Secure Practices

You can have all the security in place that you want, but if your employees do not follow security protocols, your business will not be as protected as it could be. You have the responsibility to train your employees on all things security related. One of the biggest mistakes organizations make is assuming that basic security tips are common sense, so there is no need to train employees on this. The vast majority of security breaches happen because of human error.

Cyber security training is an ongoing procedure. There will be new tools and additional threats that appear, and you will need to train your employees how to defend against these threats.

For someone who is a cyber security expert, the above tips may seem basic. But they are the building blocks for better cyber security. Once your organization has these basic points covered, an IT team may be able to work with you to address more sophisticated approaches to cyber security.