Tips to protect your business from a Cyberattack

Cybercriminals are constantly evolving their methods and their targets, but there are some basic actions you can take to protect your business.

The most important steps you can take to protect your business from a cyberattack are: implementing security solutions, establishing policies and procedures, and training employees.

Implementing Security Solutions

The most important piece of advice is preventative – if you don’t have a solution, you aren’t prepared for the possibility of a cyberattack, and you won’t be prepared to respond.

The cost of any cyber incident will be high enough that the attackers will want to make sure they can complete their mission. If your business already has a chosen business continuity plan and an offsite backup facility installed, then it is highly likely that an attack would not result in any losses.

Train employees to handle a Cyberattack

The best advice is to provide your staff with ongoing training throughout the year. Attendance to a cyber security course should be promoted regularly. It is also important to hold mock exercises, so your employees get used to the idea of how they would respond in a real crisis. Basic training is the first step, but advanced training will teach them how to respond to a cyberattack. This could be a simulated threat or an actual attack on your business. After the training, they should also receive a certificate to recognize that they are now trained to handle cyber incidents.

The training provided needs to be tailored to your business as every company is unique, and your staff will have different knowledge and skill levels. The topics you cover in training will depend on how you want your employees to respond if there is a cyberattack.

Implement policies and procedures

Having well-defined policies and procedures will help you manage an incident if it occurs. Without a set of defined policies, your business will be like a ship without a rudder – it doesn’t know which way to go or where it wants to end up.

Implementing security solutions and establishing policies and procedures will help ensure the business is prepared for an attack, whether the attack has been planned or is impulsive.

Establish Incident Response Plans (IR)

A plan will help you determine how to respond to an incident, from detecting when one has occurred, who to contact and what steps you need to take first. It should also identify who within the business must be notified of an incident as quickly as possible.

An IR plan should also identify what resources are needed: staff, equipment, facilities, etc.

What else can be done?

The above is an excellent start in protecting your business. However, more steps can be taken. For instance, it’s no good having the most up-to-date software and hardware if your employees aren’t following basic security procedures.

Promote the use of strong passwords

Password cracking software is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and any password that isn’t secure enough will likely be breached. Using a passphrase instead of a single word can provide an extra layer of security.

Another thing you can do to protect your business and your customers are to encrypt sensitive information before it leaves the computer. Unless there is a specific need to share information, it should remain encrypted until it reaches its destination, minimizing the risk of breach.

Restrict network admin rights

If a hacker gains access to a computer, the chances are they will try to log in to more than one computer. If you allow them to log in, they may be able to access files on all computers that share the same network. You should restrict administrative rights so that only minimum permissions remain on networked computers.

The importance of an up-to-date security solution can’t be overstated, with the threat landscape being so volatile and constantly evolving. There’s a lot you can do to protect your business, but there are no guarantees when it comes to cyber-attacks. To help protect your business, you need to have a plan on which you train your employees.

Once the attack has occurred, you must learn from it and update your policies and procedures if necessary. If you don’t, the attacker has won.