1. Do not Bury Your Head in the Sand
Ignoring the threats will not make them disappear. The only way you can fight against cyber threats is by knowing that there is a fight happening and who you are fighting against. Conduct regular risk assessments, identify threats you might face and any security vulnerability in your company and create a strategy for dealing with it. By reacting on time, you will be able to prevent the cyber attack or, in the worse case, mitigate the damage.
2. Implement Cybersecurity Strategy
Effective cybersecurity strategy is key in protecting your business from cybercriminals. By utilizing proper security tools such as firewall and antivirus programs, device fingerprinting, or data enrichment, you will be able to prevent cyber attacks before they even happen. The best way to keep your business safe is not by reacting and mitigating the dangers; it is by preventing them from even happening.
3. Raise Cyber Awareness
Human error is one of the most common causes of cybersecurity breaches, and it can be prevented with proper education and training. According to the research, 40 – 60% of employees are likely to open malicious links or attachments, but that percentage significantly drops with consistent cybersecurity awareness training. How are they supposed to protect your business if they don’t know what to watch for or how to react when faced with the threat? Regular cyber awareness training empowers them to take action and protect themselves and your company.
4. Introduce Good Password Hygiene
You would never purposely leave the key in the doors of your home, just inviting anyone to come inside and take whatever they want. Why would the situation be any different with the key to your online life, your passwords? By having simple or reused passwords, you make it easier for cybercriminals to gain access to your accounts and exploit your data. Implementing password policy and including it in cyber awareness training, can be a step in the right direction.
5. Backup your Data
Just one carefully aimed cyber attack can leave disastrous consequences in its wake, especially when it comes to the one aimed towards confidential data. Your entire business operations can be put on hold while you are dealing with data loss or corruption, and you will still have to deal with reputational damage. This can be prevented by conducting regular backups of your confidential data that can be used in case original data is lost or corrupted.
