Threats to companies’ cyber security are on the rise. Rapidly. Ransomware, in particular, has seen dramatic increase. According to Sophos' 2022 State of Ransomware report, 66% of organizations were affected by ransomware in 2021. Recent attacks on large corporations have filled the news, but it’s important for business owners to realize that their business, no matter the size, is at risk.
Roughly 55% of 2020's ransomware victims were businesses with less than 100 employees. An even more devastating statistic, approximately 20-30% of businesses don’t live though the 90-180 days following a ransomware attack. It’s easy to watch the news and dismiss the possibility of your business being targeted, but the reality is that all business owners need to understand the risks of cyber-attack, and begin taking action to protect themselves.
As a starting point, here are five simple cybersecurity tips to help improve your organization's security posture.
5 Tips for Improving Your Cybersecurity
1) Determine your vulnerabilities
The first step in making sure you are keeping your company safe is determining your current weaknesses when it comes to cybersecurity. Running penetration tests, or simulated cyber-attacks, are a great way to do this, as they help to identify potential points of entry for hackers. Once you understand your weaknesses, you can begin to build plans around how to remedy them.
2) Train your staff
The number one threat to your company’s security is human error. Clicking on a “bad link,” responding to phishing attacks, weak password protection, and a number of other common mistakes all lead to countless cyber-attacks every year. There are a number of great cybersecurity awareness training programs available (such as KnowBe4), and implementing one for your organization could be the difference between normal business operations and disaster. Education is key, and equipping your greatest asset – your employees – with the tools they need to protect your organization is essential.
3) Have an incident response plan ready
Having a strong security plan in place goes a long way in keeping a company safe and productive. However, cyber criminals are constantly becoming more sophisticated, and risk of attack remains for even the most secure businesses. Because of this, an incident response plan (IRP) is a necessity. Many factors go into these plans, such as having cyber insurance, data backups, etc. If you fall victim to an attack, having a well formulated plan could cut your company’s down-time from multiple days, to just hours, saving countless dollars in the process. But simply creating an incident response plan isn't enough – testing that plan is just as important. Some cybersecurity providers can help organization's test their plans. For example, Blackink IT can test an organization's IRP by conducting an Incident Response Tabletop Exercise – contact us to learn more about IRP Tabletop Exercises.
4) Actively monitor your systems and information
Following a successful breach, the average time that cyber-criminals lay dormant without detection in a company network is 190 days. They spend that time researching, collecting information, and waiting for the perfect time to attack the company they’ve infiltrated. By actively monitoring your systems, the chances of catching a cyber-criminal before they do significant damage increases drastically. “Active monitoring” can include simple actions, like checking for unexplained changes in data, to more complex actions, like running dark web scans for company information.
5) Take action today!
This one’s simple... cybersecurity should never wait. Simply starting the conversation around cyber-security and finding ways to begin educating your employees are essential first steps in improving your organization's security posture. The sooner your company begins taking action, the more likely you are to protect yourself from the cyber-attacks that affect countless organization's every year.
Ready to Begin Improving Your Security?
Although beginning to improve your cybersecurity standing can seem daunting, following these five simple best practices can put you on the path to adequately protecting your company. At Blackink IT, we work with organization's to keep them safe and productive. To learn more about how the cybersecurity experts at Blackink IT can improve your organization's security posture, contact us today – we are excited to hear from you!
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