Protecting your organization from cyber threats can feel like a never-ending cycle. As soon as you have patched up one area of weakness, another one makes itself visible.
This can demotivate any business and lead them to conclude that good information security practices are difficult to achieve.
However, there is a way around this.
Businesses must avoid focusing on each specific threat as it appears and instead create defense mechanisms that are capable of dealing with whatever cyber criminals throw at them. That is easier than it sounds. This is due to the fact that, while cybercrime tactics change, they still adhere to the same basic techniques.
You would be able to protect yourself effectively against a variety of threats if the security measures take into account how you are attacked rather than particular types of attack.
Here, we look at some of the ways that you can improve your IT security.
Make sure your IT department is supported
The first step is to ensure that your IT and digital security team have the resources they need.
These departments regularly lack funding or lack the support of management. This is because senior management often does not understand or have professional knowledge of IT security, which often prevents them from understanding why the team needs funding and support. Because of this, online security is often treated as yet another expense, rather than something that requires investment.
If they ask for software such as a corporate secure file sharing tool, it is because there is a need for it. Their job, after all, is to protect your business from cyberattacks. The influence of this team is far-reaching – the work that they do affects the entire organization and the clients that you serve.
Make sure your staff are trained
Phishing and ransomware, both of which take advantage of human error, are two of the most serious threats that businesses face. When workers receive phishing emails and are unable to identify them as scams, the whole company is put at risk.
Internal malfunction, privilege abuse, and data loss are all the product of workers failing to recognize their IT security responsibilities.There are problems that cannot be solved solely by technical means. Businesses should instead assist their IT department by providing routine personnel awareness training.
Carry out thorough risk assessments
One of the first tasks a business should complete when planning its IT security strategy is a risk assessment. It is the only way to ensure that the safeguards you put into place are sufficient for the risks the company faces.
It accomplishes this by developing a framework that assists you in answering the following questions:
- Under what scenarios is the company in jeopardy?
- What is the severity of each of these scenarios?
- How likely are these situations to occur?
Without a risk evaluation, the organization is more likely to overlook risks that could have disastrous consequences.
Similarly, you can spend time and effort dealing with incidents that are unlikely to occur or may not cause serious harm. After all, there is no sense in putting in place safeguards against incidents that are unlikely to occur or may have little significant effect on the business.