The coronavirus brought with it more disruption than has been seen for decades, and the resulting lockdowns imposed around the world forced businesses to rethink their strategies so that they could continue operations.
While it is usually larger businesses and corporations that make the headlines when they’ve been hacked, it is also of vital importance that smaller businesses take steps to protect themselves too, as noted by the hacking of the website of an online fishing tackle shop recently, which redirected visitors to adult website PornHub.
While work at home arrangements presented employees and businesses with a range of unexpected benefits – most of all personal safety and ensuring business continuity – it also presented a number of threats as remote work exposed organisations to increased cyber-attacks.
With remote workers needing access to their office’s network from wherever they are working, it provides a potential gateway for cybercriminals to stage malicious attacks, which can be very costly to businesses.
It means that with many businesses continuing to allow employees to work from home and hybrid work policies, it is important that they reconsider their cybersecurity, and ensure it is up to the job. We have a look at some measures you can take to protect your business.
Prioritise cybersecurity in the organisation
It is important for business leaders to assess their cybersecurity strategy, and ensure that the company’s network is secure and that security vulnerabilities have been identified and fixed. Cybersecurity teams should regularly assess the network, fixing vulnerabilities as they are discovered.
Teach cybersecurity to employees
While the general public is aware of cybersecurity, many people believe it to be solely the responsibility of IT and cybersecurity teams, unaware of the role they play in ensuring the network is secure.
The human factor in cybersecurity is often the weakest link, but this can be rectified with education. It should be the policy of employers to develop and deploy cybersecurity training for all employees.
One of the most common points of entry for malicious actors is remote devices of employees that have weak security. Having a weak password or passphrase can be exploited quickly by cybercriminals. Another factor would be employees who would open links from phishing emails. Yet another one would be installing an app that has a vulnerability.
Employees should be educated on cybersecurity threats that they could encounter and be able to identify and avoid various threats.
Encrypt data
Data is an organisation’s most valuable asset and is the treasure that cybercriminals want to steal. This means that businesses need to ensure that sensitive data is protected and kept safe.
Cybersecurity teams should ensure that network encryption is implemented and that all sensitive data is protected from potential intrusions. This could be done by installing a proxy to handle data encryption.
Devise a strong incident response plan
Prevention of cyberattacks is paramount, but all businesses should be prepared in the event of a successful attack. This means devising a well-thought-out and strong incident response plan that contains all the information on the courses of action an organisation can take.
By continuously assessing the security of the network, educating employees, and having a strong incident response plan, a business can be prepared for any attack.
If you’re looking for IT support in Rotherham, get in touch today.
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