If you have any knowledge of the cybersecurity landscape, you’ll know that it’s constantly shifting and evolving. New threats emerge every week as organized criminal gangs find new ways to exploit the data of companies and individuals in order to make cash. Some use extortion, launching ransomware attacks. Others simply hack data and sell them to the highest bidder. As a business, you should look to protect your data as much as possible, seeing as there are significant regulatory and PR penalties for leaking private data. Here’s how you’ll manage that in 2022.
Staff Training
Your staff are your first line of defense from cyberattacks, but they’re also a weak link. If your staff aren’t well trained in how cyberattacks work and what they look like, they’re far more likely to stumble blindly into one that could end up afflicting your servers and your databases. You’ll already be guessing at the solution: staff training is one of the most effective ways to prevent against damaging cyberattacks that could cripple your business and see your valuable data stolen and shared across the dark web.
Cybersecurity training comes in many different shapes and sizes. You’ll need to find the provider that’s best able to speak to your staff and their experience of the digital world. If your staff aren’t especially knowledgeable about cyber threats, then you should find training that they will be able to understand. Meanwhile, more advanced tech staff may be better suited for a deep dive on the subject. Most important, though, is showing all of your staff what they should be wary of. A hack can come from one accidentally clicked link, so it’s important that your staff know what these can look like to avoid them welcoming malicious actors into your backend.
Software
Your second line of defense will be significantly more robust than your staff. Cybersecurity software is impressive: it’s built by experts in the field who are constantly updating their products and searching for new threats to respond to. Many of the world-leading cybersecurity software providers are regarded as effectively bulletproof, with a few exceptions. This is software that you absolutely must purchase, even if the subscription fee feels a little steep.
While you’re purchasing the software, do consider who will actually need to use it. If your staff are working remotely on different devices – a work device and a personal device, say – then you’ll want to ensure that your subscription is also covering their personal devices. A weak link in the network is precisely what a hacker is looking for, so attempt not to give them any excuse to find a way into your network via an unprotected device.
The Cloud
Cybersecurity is somewhat hampered by the cloud. You may have seen that recent cyberattacks have led to hundreds of businesses being affected. This is something that could not have happened in the days preceding the introduction of the cloud. It’s the cloud that binds businesses together in cyberspace, which can mean that an infection in one business spreads to many others. The cloud itself can also be infected, which results in thousands of businesses potentially seeing their data hacked.
Clearly, the cloud is a source of serious cybersecurity concerns, despite also being fundamental to modern working habits. Finding ways to protect your company in the cloud is therefore incredibly important – and something all companies should be focused on in 2022. If you’re interested in the novel ways companies are using to protect businesses in the cloud, look to Sonrai CSPM and their methods of plugging holes in your cloud-based cybersecurity infrastructure.
Passwords
It might sound incredibly simple, but a password can be your most potent defensive weapon against cybercriminals. That’s because a known password can easily grant cyber criminals access to your accounts, including accounts you use for business. It doesn’t take long for that kind of access to lead to significant data breaches, extractions, or ransomware attacks. As such, a strong password is a must for all of your online accounts.
But you should also go further. As a business leader, it’s up to you to get your staff to use the strongest possible passwords for their business accounts. You should also ask them to change their passwords every six months to avoid the risk that cybercriminals will find and exploit their current password on accounts linked to your firm. Passwords are a double-edged sword. Good ones keep people out of your accounts. Poor ones grant them easy access, from where they can wreak plenty of damage in a short space of time.
Researching
The major research job in the field of cybersecurity is, of course, with those who produce the software that’s designed to protect your firm. But it’s important to note that, in this field, knowledge really is power. If you can keep up to date with the latest cybersecurity news, you’ll find out which companies are being targeted, which weaknesses are being found, and which novel attacks are being unearthed.
This will help you, as a manager, think about potential responses to cyberthreats. Some are completely unavoidable, of course, but others might be avoided if you have a little forewarning of a threat that’s been brewing for a little while in the world of cybercrime.
Data Privacy
Remember that all of the above is designed to protect your data. Criminals don’t want to come into your business’s digital infrastructure in order to destroy it wantonly. They’re in there to extract data that they can sell to other criminals or use to make a huge sum of cash.
Protecting your data is paramount, and failing to protect customers’ data is often fatal. By following the tips above, you’ll be doing all you can to avoid damaging leaks and breaches in your digital backend. But you should also bear in mind that individual errors can leak private personal data – like an email sent to the wrong address. Keep disciplined here, too, in order to enhance your cybersecurity in 2022.
Cyberthreats are constantly evolving, which means that you’ll need to adapt and learn in order to keep your firm away from the damaging headlines that emerge when a company is found to have been breached.