Cyber risks come in both technical and non-technical forms. From high-tech hacking attempts to phishing scams, attacks are constantly evolving and coming from all angles. Protecting your business can feel overwhelming. It’s only by addressing both the technology side and the people side of your business that you will be able to proactively reduce your cyber risk.
Two Sides of Cyber Risk
Although Cyber Risk sounds exclusively technical, many dangerous risks are introduced by non-technical methods. Technical risks include vulnerabilities in your software, unpatched or out-of-date systems, and insufficient cybersecurity measures. Non-technical risks involve human interaction such as getting tricked by a phishing scam, accidentally sharing sensitive information, or lacking secure best practices within a business. To effectively reduce cyber risk, businesses need to adopt a holistic approach that embraces both improving your tech and your training.
Just like protecting a castle, you need the moat and you need the guards to know how to recognize a threat and make use of your drawbridge.
Tighten Up Your Tech
1. Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of security by requiring users to provide two or more verification factors to gain access to a resource. This could be something they know (a password), something they have (a smartphone), or something they are (fingerprint or facial recognition). MFA significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access, even if login credentials are compromised.
2. Perform Vulnerability Assessments
Regular vulnerability assessments help identify potential weaknesses in your technology stack. These assessments can reveal if your systems are out of compliance, if your data is exposed, or if any of your information has appeared on the dark web. They also help detect unusual activity within your systems that could indicate a security concern or incident.
3. Back Up Your Data
Having secure, tested, and regular backups is essential for business continuity. In the event of a security incident or a physical disaster, backups ensure that you can quickly restore your data and keep your operations running with minimal interruption.
4. Keep Your Technology Up to Date
Running updates on your software and technology is critical for security. Updates often include patches for newly discovered vulnerabilities, making your systems less susceptible to attacks. Ensure all devices and applications are regularly updated to their latest versions.
5. Utilize Cybersecurity Monitoring
Continuous cybersecurity monitoring involves enriching and interpreting all data, alerts, and activities across your tech stack. By monitoring for anomalies, you can quickly identify potential threats and take action to remediate them before they cause significant damage.
Train Your Talent – The Human Side of Security
While tightening your technological defenses is vital, it’s equally important to equip your people with the knowledge, best practices, and skills needed to identify, report, and stop suspicious activity from slipping past them.
Understanding Social Engineering
Social engineering is a tactic used by cybercriminals to manipulate individuals into divulging confidential information. This can take many forms, such as phishing emails, pretexting, baiting, and quid pro quo schemes. Because social engineering preys on human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities, no amount of advanced technology is a replacement for education and training.
Importance of Education and Training
Employees need to be educated about the various forms of social engineering and trained to follow cybersecurity best practices. This includes:
- Increasing Their Level of Suspicion: Encourage employees to question unexpected requests for information and verify the identity of the requester.
- Recognizing Potential Threats: Train staff to identify red flags such as unusual email addresses, urgent language, and unexpected attachments or links.
- Reporting Suspicious Activity: Establish clear protocols for reporting potential security threats, and ensure employees know how to follow these procedures.
- Following Established Secure Best Practices: Create methods, instructions, and training for your employees to know how to conduct themselves securely such as establishing that every wire transfer requires a face-to-face or direct-line phone call confirmation.
Advancing Tech and Training Is Your Key To Reducing Risk
Combining advanced technology with comprehensive security awareness training is essential for reducing cyber risk in your business. While technology can protect against many threats, educating your employees on cybersecurity best practices and the nuances of social engineering can prevent dangerous attacks.
While it makes sense to protect your business from every angle, many businesses find it difficult or distracting to manage both their cybersecurity risks and their core offering. By finding a technology partner to alleviate their IT and cybersecurity workload, business owners and IT professionals find they can better focus on growing their business and achieve greater success in their industry.
At Snap Tech IT we believe technology should solve problems, not create them. We are passionate about helping businesses grow by alleviating their technology and cybersecurity concerns so you can focus on the mission of your business.
Ready to take your cybersecurity to the next level? Contact us today to learn more about how we can help protect your business from cyber threats.
Nathan Caldwell
Marketing expert, thought leader, speaker, and security awareness solution creator.