Digital data storage and the widespread use of technology in businesses have grown significantly over the past few years. While this has many benefits, such as efficiency, accuracy, affordability in business operations, and better solutions to customers’ problems, it has also exposed people to new threats.
Everything has its drawbacks, and so does digitalization. Cybercriminals see the rising use of business tech as an opportunity to attack companies and steal or destroy their sensitive data.
However, you can’t take the chance for your company to suffer a cyberattack. Stolen or destroyed digital assets not only lead to a significant loss of money, but may also reduce your company’s reputation for years to come. It’s not surprising that many businesses facing cyberattacks close only within a few months of the attack. Therefore, it’s crucial to focus on developing and implementing an effective cybersecurity plan. To help you with this purpose, here are five components of a foolproof cybersecurity plan.
Employee training
Cybercriminals exploit not only the gaps in your company’s digital infrastructure, but also the lack of knowledge of your employees. Instead of guessing passwords and bypassing systems, many hackers find it easier to manipulate employees into giving away sensitive information through social engineering techniques. What’s even more concerning is that these particular cyberattacks have become more prevalent in recent years. In such a situation, it’s essential to include employee training as part of your cybersecurity plan. With practical training, employees will be able to identify social engineering attacks instead of being lured into them.Â
If you want to provide training to your employees and yourself, it’s best to pursue advanced education in cybersecurity. A master’s degree program in cybersecurity is a good fit for this purpose. Gaining advanced knowledge on how to thwart cyberattacks will help your employees and you understand how your company may be under threat and how to halt such dangers effectively. You can also choose to pursue this program online to learn with flexibility.Â
Basic protection
Another essential component of a failsafe cybersecurity plan is basic protection, including anti-malware installation, password protection, and firewall setup. This type of protection can help you against the majority of cyberattacks effectively. For example, anti-malware applications are crucial for fighting against malware that cybercriminals inject into your company’s computer systems to steal or destroy data.
Without basic protection measures, your digital assets would be vulnerable to viruses, spyware, adware, and worms. In the worst-case scenario, cybercriminals may hold your company’s data hostage by using ransomware, and you’ll have to spend a fortune on retrieving the key from the digital thief or risk losing it. Recovering from a ransomware attack can take an average of $1.84 million. But with the proper security measures taken, anti-malware applications will identify and quarantine any malware.
Moreover, firewalls can monitor incoming and outgoing internet traffic on your network. As a result, they can block any unwanted software or unauthorized access through the internet before it’s too late. Additionally, multi-factor authentication is another type of basic protection. Unlike passwords, hackers cannot bypass multi-factor authentication easily, thus securing your digital assets.Â
Incident response planning
No matter how hard you try, cyberattacks can still take place. However, this doesn’t mean your data will remain vulnerable. With the help of an incident response plan as part of your cybersecurity strategy, you can deal with security incidents efficiently, taking little to no damage.
The first step to creating an incident response plan is to consider possible threats your company can face. Doing so will allow your business to develop tactics and strategies to respond on time in the case of cyberattacks. For example, you can build a system to eliminate fake emails in the case of a phishing attack as part of your incident response plan.Â
However, you can’t consider all the threats your company may face. So, it’s good to have a detection system that can identify threats. Moreover, while each cyberattack will require its own response plan, you can take some security measures for all attacks. For example, you can implement program systems to automatically lock and encrypt data, notify IT teams, and record information in the case of a data breach.
Data recovery plan
As many as 93% of companies go out of business within one year of data loss if they lack a data recovery plan. Hence, it’s crucial to have a data recovery plan if all your security measures fail.
A data recovery plan will help you recover all your data even if there is a massive system malfunction or a dangerous cyberattack. To implement a data recovery plan, you’ll need to store a duplicate version of your company’s data in different hard drives or cloud servers. However, it’s essential to ensure you keep your duplicate data safe as well through security measures such as encryption, as it’s your last line of defense. Moreover, it’s equally important to keep updating the duplicate data set to ensure you recover all your data perfectly in the case of an incident.Â
Risk management
Identifying risks is a crucial part of an effective cybersecurity plan. It’s better to be ready for cyberattacks beforehand and stop them before they occur instead of waiting for shit to hit the fan. Hiring a professional IT team is a good idea for improving risk management. Such professionals know about the cyberattacks your company can face and how they may occur, allowing them to take the proper security measures in advance.
However, alongside taking help from IT teams, you can also utilize data analytics to identify and assess looming threats. Furthermore, AI-driven security software can also help enhance risk management. For example, AI anti-malware applications can automatically identify any suspicious behavior within computer systems before it’s too late.
Conclusion
The use of technology has significantly improved how we do business. However, it has also created security issues. While you can’t stop using technology in this modern age, you can still protect your data from loss and theft through robust cybersecurity plans. So, consider the components mentioned above while developing effective measures to outsmart the most stubborn cybercriminals out there.