Over the previous decades, cyber security has gone from something of liminal importance to an absolute essential for all businesses. As the digital realm becomes increasingly complex, with seemingly always more security concerns arising to combat, it can be tricky knowing which areas to focus on.
As your business grows, you’ll also become a bigger target for cyber criminals, meaning you have to focus on cyber security more and more – here’s what you need to know.
Cyber attacks are common
The first thing to know is that cyber-attacks are more common than you think. Essentially, it’s not a question of if you get hit by one, but when. These kinds of attacks aren’t just reserved for huge organisations, businesses of all sizes can be targeted, even individuals. As a result, it’s a mistake to believe that just because your business isn’t a global brand, you won’t be in danger.
Prioritisation
A lot of businesses, especially those that operate physical premises, can be tempted to focus all of their efforts on physical security measures. This phenomenon is partly psychological in nature – you can see a big gate or an alarm system, so it makes it feel like more of a legitimate investment.
The issue with this mindset is its neglect of the massive damage that can be caused by cyberattacks. It’s crucial to prioritize cybersecurity. Consider investing in digital security measures like dark web monitoring to protect against data breaches.
Cloud security
Many businesses nowadays rely on the cloud for multiple elements of their operation. As a result, it’s important to focus on cloud security from the very beginning. Make sure that you’re using strong encryption systems to hide sensitive data, multifactor authentication, and access controls to limit who can see certain information. You can seek expert advice from providers such as Citation Cyber, to see if you’re taking the right approach based on your risk profile.
Scalability
As a growing business, you need to make sure that you adopt cybersecurity solutions that are able to scale with you. You don’t want to end up with a whole group of complex solutions in place that don’t work when your business starts to grow in size; make sure that you inquire about these kinds of things as part of your research process, so that you’re not met by a nasty surprise later on.
Employee training
Finally, it’s crucial to remember that in most scenarios, it’s people and issues like user error that will be your weakest link. With security solutions, you can have the strongest door that exists, but if someone forgets to lock it, it’s pretty much useless.
As a result, you need to integrate employee training into your overall approach to cyber security. What this training looks like will depend on the issues you’re facing and the kinds of systems you have in place, and you’ll need to make sure that it’s regularly updated to keep things fresh.
As your business gets bigger, you’ll often rapidly outgrow the current systems you have in place. You need to constantly be keeping an eye on the risks that arise and develop, to ensure that you’re not caught out by any cyber attacks.
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