In this era of digital expansion, having a cyber-resilient strategy for your business is vital. Cyber resilience services are available to help you achieve this goal. However, if you’re looking for some quick wins, there are a few steps you can take right now to safeguard your business against cybercrime. Here are five of the best:
- Make All the Connections
These days, the majority of online systems are connected, which is great for customers and employees alike, but it also paves the way for potential scams and malware. It is important to understand the various systems you have, how they connect, and which elements are open to the wider internet. With this kind of mapping, you’ll have a clearer picture of what to do if your systems are disrupted. You’ll also understand how to isolate different sections to prevent further damage and disruption.
2. Understand Your Links
As mentioned above, it’s important to understand all the different systems within your business that could come under attack. This is the best way to ensure you’re able to isolate any incidents that occur and prevent them from causing widespread disruptions.
From this foundation, it is important to understand the systems used by your suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders. Third-party attacks are on the rise, and these are carried out via external parties connected to a business. This means that you have to understand not only the cyber threats that could directly affect your business but also those that may hit any other link in your supply chain.
3. Have Good Cyber Hygiene Habits
Cyber hygiene is an umbrella term for lots of different practices and measures that a company can take to keep its data, systems, and network safe. This includes system updates, segmenting networks, maintaining control of data access, and other similar measures. Keep these systems up-to-date to ensure you have the best possible business habits for cyber-resilience.
4. Have Professional Protection In Place
In a recent study on data risk, researchers concluded that data is at risk unless there is a dedicated plan to protect it. The largest data breach ever to take place in Australia proves this point. The sensitive data of millions of customers was scraped from mobile service provider Optus. This information was easily obtained as the data simply wasn’t properly protected.
If you want to be more disaster-ready than Optus was, it’s crucial to have a sophisticated protection plan in place (ideally from trusted, leading companies). This is the best way to cut down your risk and protect your customers.
5. Have a Recovery Plan
It’s important to know what you will do if an attack occurs despite all your protective efforts. No matter how perfectly locked-down your data is, there’s always the chance that a clever hacker will be able to tunnel through, so it’s crucial to be able to bounce back in the event of an attack.
The best way to do this is to run through various scenarios and determine the best course of action for each one. With this information, you can set recovery plans to cover all your bases. You’ll also develop the knowledge you need to boost and improve your cyber-resilience moving forward.
Are You Cyber-Resilient?
The five steps above can help you become more aware, prepared, and resilient. In a world where digital presence is key, you can’t afford to be slack about protecting your internet-facing assets. Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated by the day, so it pays to stay at least one step ahead.
