Every day we see headlines in the news about different emerging cyber security threats, and companies that have already been hit by breaches and ransomware. Protecting your business against these types of risks, should be your primary focus. We have put together a cyber security best practice guide to help you make a start in making your business more robust and to help you to protect your data and that of your customers, clients and partners.
Our top 7 cyber security best practices for your business.
- Evaluate your software
It is important to review your current software and systems within the business. First look at the cybersecurity solutions you are currently using, are they covering all endpoints, and is it robust enough to keep your business protected?Next check the other software and systems within the business, are they updated to the latest version, with the latest patches applied? A number of big companies have suffered data breaches from unpatched software, such as Uber, Marriott, and Equifax.
- Check your vendor and partners cyber security
As a business, if you work closely with other partners and vendors, especially if they handle your data, it is crucial to ensure their cyber security procedures are also as robust as yours, otherwise your data could be at risk.
- Review your IT Team or provider
As a company, your IT team, whether they are internal, or an external IT provider are your first line of both defence and offence.In order to have the skills to identify potential threats you must train and update the members of your internal IT team. When partnering with an external IT provider, ensuring they understand cyber security and the latest threat landscape is essential.
- Understand your data backup process
It is critical to check and understand your data backup process. Should anything happen to your business at least you are safe in the knowledge that your key business data is not lost. Read our blog “World Backup Day – 6 key questions you need to ask yourself” to help you conduct a review.
- Review access privileges
Not every employee will need access to all the files, folders, and systems within your business in order to be able to do their role. Begin to set up access privileges so that you can begin to monitor and restrict who can access what data within your business.If you already have these in place, ensure you review them regularly, as well as discontinuing logins for any inactive accounts.
- Continue emphasising on strong passwords
We have explored the importance of this topic previously, check out our blog “Are Your Employees’ Passwords Protecting Your Company for more information, but in essence it is best practice to ensure your employees are using strong passwords to protect their accounts.Ensure everyone uses multi-factor authentication to login as this adds another layer of security. Remember, it only takes one leaked password for cyber criminals to gain access to your critical business data.
- Train and keep your staff informed
It is always best practice to keep your staff up to speed with the latest cyber security protocols. Some key areas are already mentioned above such as the benefits of using a strong password, however staff should also be trained in how to spot and identify a phishing email, or a scam phone call.Every employee has a responsibility to protect the business from cyber criminals. It is also critical that your senior management teams are trained on incident response plans, so should the worst happen they know how to act.
These 7 best practice tips are only scratching the surface when it comes to IT security and protecting your business, but it is a good starting point.
Should your business be interested in finding out more, or want to discuss any cyber security concerns, feel free to contact us, we would be delighted to talk you through the options available from Xperience in creating a robust cyber security solution for your business.
