Four tips to secure your cyber safety
As cyber criminals get smarter, so too should businesses, especially as so many of us are currently working from home over the lock down period .
The protective measures you can put in place should be a matter of priority. Here are four tips / routines to follow to help keep your business safe online. With cyber security, keeping it up to date consistently is where the true safety happens.
Secure the front line
New versions of anti-virus software (AVS) should be the clue that risks evolve and so to must AVS software. It’s imperative that you stay up to date with the latest virus pattern updates. Importantly, the free trials will not sustain your security like you think. Paying for cyber protection with AVS as your safety net is effectively like installing a security gate on your front door. Without it, it’s much easier to gain access. And over a lock down there are likely to be even more cybercrime attempts.
Cyber criminals are clever though and may penetrate your defences despite best efforts. You should also consider separate cyber insurance to protect your data and to pre-empt any losses you might suffer if your business becomes interrupted by cybercrime. Imagine if a cyber-attack puts you out of operation for a few weeks or worse still, your client’s data ends up for sale on the dark web.
According to the IBM 2019 Cost of Data Breach Report, the costs are only rising. In partnership with the Ponemon Institute, the IBM report surveyed 21 businesses in South Africa and the average total cost of managing a data breach was revealed to be R43.3 million. This is a sizeable sum that could cripple any business.
Consult an ethical hacker
Employing an ethical (a.k.a white hat hacker) to attempt to breach your network or website. Also known as a penetration test, this is a savvy move to make. They can point out any weak spots or will confirm that you are protected. Like other protective measures, such as short-term insurance, you can’t just take it out once and never update it again. You’ll need to routinely assess if your cyber resilience is on track.
Get your house in order
Instilling safe online practices for your employees or limiting access can really go a long way. Human error is a common culprit for cyber leaks, but strict rules that are managed should be part of your compliance programme. It’s less common these days to have a business that isn’t online in some way. Even if you’re small, the clients you work with could be appealing to criminals. Data is valuable and so criminals want to access it – and passwords are part of the problem.
Maastricht University in the Netherlands ran a campaign some years ago relating safe password practices to how one should treat underwear. ‘Never share it with anyone, change it often and don’t leave it on your desk.’ A simple but relevant concept; the dirty laundry of our data can be a much bigger task to clean up, when regular ‘’washes’’ aren’t performed.
Avoid complacency
Cyber protection should be a matter of urgency; think of it as a necessary compliance step overall. Where you can reduce unnecessary information being put online, do so. Also look to prioritising internal access controls, such as only allowing selective storing, or viewing of sensitive data. With limited access likely already impacting you over lock down, it’s a great time to review your online footprint.
Making cyber safety a part of the daily, weekly and monthly routine in your business will help you to keep cyber risk firmly at bay. Whether we’re on lock down or things go back to ‘’business as usual’’, cyber safety needs to remain a priority in this electronic age.
