Cyberattacks are now viewed as one of the biggest threats to small and medium-sized businesses, and this is especially true when you start to count the associated economic cost. It’s not just the loss of data or business interruption. Forensic investigations, data recovery and security, and not to mention damage to business reputation, all add up.
Globally, it is estimated that the economic cost of cyberattacks will exceed $10.5 trillion by 2025. It’s a not-so-gentle reminder that no company can afford to take a casual approach to cybersecurity. Creating firewalls and installing antivirus software is a good start, but it takes more than that to secure company assets in 2023.
There are so many ways that cybercriminals attack and these are constantly evolving. The volume of data and the number of users, combined with the many systems, assets, and connections that exist, make it hard to identify every vulnerability that could exist. This is why an adaptive, proactive, and reactive strategy is required. It may not be possible to keep ahead of every form of attack, but there are several ways to make it much harder for attackers and not be an easy target.
In this article, we discuss several important considerations that can contribute to making your business less vulnerable to attack.
Empowering Employees:
Vulnerabilities are often unintentionally created by employees, simply because they are not aware of associated risks. It could be something as simple as not changing a default admin password, not implementing Multi-Factor-Authentication (MFA), or connecting external devices to a home network that also has access to company assets. Ongoing employee training that explains risks and potential vulnerabilities can go a long way to reducing the risk of cyberattacks.
Creating a Recovery Plan?
Having a detailed recovery plan has several benefits. In creating the plan, it creates more awareness regarding company assets and vulnerabilities. A common statement in cybersecurity is: “You can’t secure what you don’t know you have. And you won’t know how to secure it unless you understand the role it plays in the business.” Similarly, you can’t recover what you don’t know you’ve lost. Building a recovery plan requires an audit of assets and review of systems as well as deciding where to host a secured backup – in the cloud or offsite? Gaining the advice of a cybersecurity specialist is hugely valuable in this process as they can guide you into making the best use of your budget to improve security.
Monitoring and Response:
One of the challenges of cybersecurity is that attack surfaces are constantly changing. Some of the approaches include active monitoring, End point Detection and Response (EDR), continual security scans and penetration (Pen) testing. These are able to detect unusual activity or low network performance and test the strength of systems and policies. These proactive approaches can help a business improve their security awareness and defense capabilities, especially when supported by security expertise.
Cyber Liability Insurance:
While insurance is often considered a grudge purchase, when it comes to cyberattacks, it can be the difference between having the ability to stay operational or not. It’s reported that more than half of small to medium sized businesses do not survive more than six months following an attack. What many businesses aren’t aware of it the additional costs that go along with recovery. These may include: Forensic reporting, legal compliance, if operating in an industry with sensitive customer data, loss of business reputation and trust, interruption to daily operations, as well as replacement costs of damaged assets. When a company has adequate insurance, it makes it significantly easier for businesses to recover an be able to move on from an attack.
Leveraging Security Expertise:
If all of these considerations seem overwhelming, then it’d be worthwhile to partner with a company that can provide additional security expertise and support. This will enable you to continue to focus on the core aspects of your business, without worrying if you know enough about cybersecurity and needing to manage every aspect of it.
Contact Logically:
Logically takes care of your IT, so you can take care of business. We work hard so that you can work better. Whether you are seeking to augment an existing IT team or outsource IT completely, Logically can help. Contact us by calling 866.946.9638 or speak to an expert today.
