Nowadays, every company must have a strong cybersecurity plan, developed based on any possible weaknesses. When they know your company’s vulnerabilities, experts can easily identify how to reduce the risks involved. Once you have a strong cybersecurity plan, anyone working for your organization should follow it, so it must be easily comprehensible.
Companies can have a dedicated IT department, outsource cybersecurity or invest in software to help them keep their business safe from cyber threats. To help you build the best cybersecurity plan, we’ve compiled a list of six essential strategies every business should implement.
1) Make Regular Data Backups
When it comes to cyber protection, one of the most important things is to get in the habit of backing up all important data regularly. Your data backup should include all documents, spreadsheets, financial information, communications, HR files, sensitive information, and anything else of value.
You should also set up automated backups because remembering to do it manually isn’t the most efficient plan. Make sure you store your backup files in a separate, secure location, and regularly check that your backups are performing as expected. Additionally, if you are using a NAS device, for example, you can consider investing in a NAS backup solution, to back your data both locally and in the cloud.
2) Establish a Clean Desk Rule
A clean desk policy can be crucial for business safety, even if it sounds like something your mother would ask of you. Employees should be instructed to securely store sensitive information at the end of each workday. Your cybersecurity policy should have a written version of a clean desk policy, which you should give to new hires.
There are numerous ways that personal information might get in the wrong hands when it isn’t handled appropriately. Your clean desk policy should at the very least require all employees to keep any material in a secure area and empty their workspace of anything of a confidential nature.
3) Use a Firewall
When you install a firewall, you are creating an invisible wall that filters all internet traffic before it reaches your local network or devices. Firewalls function by filtering out undesirable material using certain rules. You get to choose the degrees of protection you desire because you set the rules during installation.
For further security, you should think about implementing both hardware and software firewalls. Additionally, you should ask all remote employees to set up firewalls on their devices before being allowed access to your business’s network.
4) Use Antivirus Software
To keep an eye out for questionable activities, you should install reliable antivirus software on every device used in your company. Antivirus tools operate in the background, analyzing devices for numerous dangers including malware and viruses, and once they detect one, they take immediate action to limit it.
Operating systems frequently provide their own antivirus protection. Always keep your OS up-to-date, as security updates are often implemented to improve the protection of your device. Don’t forget to ask any employee to do the same for their personal device if they use it for work.
5) Don’t Forget About Employees’ Devices
One of the biggest weaknesses companies face comes from employees’ devices infecting corporate networks. So, when employees bring their devices, they must be subject to the same security measures as company-provided devices.
Furthermore, it’s not just an employee’s mobile device that you need to worry about. Smartwatches and Internet of Things (IoT) devices also put company networks at risk. Even if you don’t intend for it to happen, some IoT devices like home appliances, gadgets, and even electric cars may attach to enterprise networks. At a minimum, your cybersecurity plan should require two things: that those devices adhere to strong password protocols and that their OS are always up to date.
6) Require Strong Password Protocols
Creating and keeping track of complicated passwords is a source of frustration among office employees. It’s what leads many employees to write their passwords on sticky notes on monitors or cubicle walls, and why they use the same password on different accounts.
Implement a common sense password policy for your employees. If you want to lighten the load, incorporate a password manager into your cybersecurity policy. There are third-party applications specifically designed to create strong passwords and store them on a secure server. Using multi-factor authentication, in addition to a password, is also a good cybersecurity tip to keep your office secure.
Conclusion
Cybercriminals use different techniques, such as phishing, malware, ransomware, or viruses to attack businesses of any size around the world. And even though we often hear of huge companies that have suffered a data breach, small businesses are even more vulnerable to cyberattacks, since many of them don’t have a good cybersecurity plan in place.
