Cyber threats are a significant concern for business owners. It is imperative to defend your business from these threats. Not having a cybersecurity strategy in place is no longer an option. You must be proactive and take preventive measures to protect your business from cyber-attacks. Here are five easy ways to defend your business from cyber threats.
1. Know Your Risks
As auditors, we frequently stress the significance of conducting a thorough risk assessment and implementing risk management strategies, as they are the foundation of any adequate information security and cybersecurity program. A comprehensive risk assessment can give your organization a detailed inventory of its assets and internal and external vulnerabilities. By keeping abreast of the threat landscape and the prevalent cybersecurity risks, you can safeguard your business from cyber threats.
2. Promote a Culture of Cybersecurity
The workforce is any organization’s critical line of defense, and with the threat landscape rapidly changing, it’s essential to keep employees on their toes at all times. Creating a culture of cybersecurity can help encourage employees to be aware of cyber threats and educate the workforce on recognizing and preventing cyber threats.
3. Ensure Hardening Standards
Hardening standards is essential in protecting your business from cyber threats. System and network hardening, also known as “defense in depth,” involves the creation of multiple layers of protection to eliminate the potential for a cyberattack. Hardening techniques include a strong perimeter firewall, anti-virus, robust passwords, IDS, and physical access controls. By combining these controls, you can better defend your business against cyber threats.
4. Encrypt Everything
Strong encryption is an effective and straightforward method of safeguarding your business against cyber threats. It protects sensitive data that you would rather not fall into the wrong hands. Encryption allows the secure transfer of sensitive information (such as credit card numbers, health records, or any other personally identifiable data) across networks, making it inaccessible without proper authorization.
5. Update Your Software
Many organizations have learned the hard way over the past few years that leaving critical software and operating system updates unpatched can lead to severe vulnerabilities that malicious attackers can exploit. It is best practice to implement patches that are released as necessary within 30 days of release.
Do not wait for your organization to be attacked by a cyber threat before starting a conversation about cybersecurity. Take steps now to defend your business from cyber threats. If you need more information or assistance ramping up your cybersecurity program, please contact me today at s.morris@kirkpatrickprice.com.
Sarah Morris is the managing editor of KirkpatrickPrice LLC. You may find the original entry here.