With the tremendous advances in technology, the majority of business data is now stored online, making cybersecurity a must-have for all companies. However, cybersecurity is a preventative measure that some companies need more than others.
Before choosing a company to trust with your data, it's important to make sure you've taken the following steps.
Even if you enlist another company, you still need someone within your firm to be the high-level decision maker, especially if there is a breach and action is required.
Always plan, making sure you have the proper procedures in place is essential if you want to operate effectively.
Define all staff members’ responsibility for cybersecurity, and make sure they know the consequences should they or your company fall victim to a cyber attack.
Ensure you have physical security for your office building, data center(off-site and on-site) and staff, especially if employees travel home with company devices.
You need to set password policies and encryptions for all data.
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Look at an outline of considerations when planning your cybersecurity procedures and policies. However, hiring a company with cybersecurity expertise can help you manage, implement and maintain your plans to keep your business, staff, and data safe and secure.
Like any business decision, you need to research and compare options before planning out your next steps; cybersecurity is no exception. Many companies provide cybersecurity, so the first step is to get a list of all the best services, and then compare the plans, features, and prices.
The consequences of falling victim to a cyber attack can be detrimental to your brand and reputation and may also result in financial loss. To ensure that your organization is secure, it's crucial to balance the threat with the business's risk appetite and your skill set in-house before considering the appropriate technical controls or deciding what kind of external resources are needed to help support you. Considering these different elements will allow you to develop a cost-effective cybersecurity programme best suited for your organization's needs and size.
Cybersecurity risk assessment. Most companies allocate an entire budget to cybersecurity; this is a mistake. Instead, complete a risk assessment to understand what risks can lead to:
Software or operational downtime.
Loss of business, customers, money.
Damaging a company’s reputation.
Size analysis. Hackers and cyber attackers can have a variety of motivations from addressing political injustice, gaining money or releasing privileged information to the public. However, no one knows until it’s already happening. A bank or financial institution is a good example. The hackers can release information, steal it, sell it to another company, or simply access clients’ money.
Operations and activities. Create an operations model for your business, outlining your cybersecurity needs. Decide whether you want the unit to be in-house or outsourced. Include activities like training, staff awareness policies, procedures, security tools and upgrades. You can add any factor that might be necessary for your business model.
As we’ve discussed above, multiple factors play a part in cybersecurity. So let’s dig a little deeper. No company has the same budget for cybersecurity, but many include it in the budget for the IT department. Your account needs to fit into your business size and risk evaluation.
According to CyberShark, industry leaders like IBM feel that "a healthy cybersecurity budget should make up nine to 14% of your overall IT department’s annual budget." The reality is, you might spend less than 6% of your budget on risk management and security.
No business can predict when or how they will get a cyber threat, but they can fortify vulnerable systems in advance. A cyber attack can make or break a company depending on how prepared they are. Look at it this way: Cybersecurity is an investment, not a liability.