According to recent surveys, 62 percent of firms are not prepared for a breach. As a result, small companies seek the best "bang for their buck" on the majority of their spending, and the same is true for cyber security.
1. Security Awareness Education
Without a doubt, general knowledge and cyber security awareness training for staff provides the finest return on security investment that a company can obtain. This is one of the most cost-effective cyber security systems available.
Some would argue that a firewall is a company's first line of protection, but what good is a firewall if anyone will choose to link and clicks on a link and allows a bad man to stroll in?
People are the first and, if properly taught, the strongest line of defence. Having said that, individuals are also the greatest hazard to triggering a breach.
Technology, for the most part, accomplishes what it is designed to do. On the other hand, what about people? Not at all.
Cyber threats come from all directions and in all forms and sizes. It is critical to have a robust defensive system. How can a company defend itself against unknown attacks?
The military is the epitome of this. For that reason, they train over and over again. A small company owner's mentality should be the same!
Find an effective user training solution and require that everyone completes their programme at least once a year. In fact, no company will be penalised for training its staff more than once a year!
2. Two factor authentication / Multi-factor Authentication
What exactly is two-factor authentication (MFA)?
Multi-factor authentication, often known as second-factor authentication (or 2FA), is additional type of proof (authentication) via evidence that a site, app, or computer requires to validate...
YOU!
Everyone has become accustomed to using a password to the point that not using one feels strange. It takes a few seconds longer.
Consider the first time you had to enter a password into a computer. (Yes, there was a time when passwords were unnecessary. We realise it's crazy to think.)
A password is a method of verifying that someone is who they claim to be. MFA uses evidence to add additional proof (a push notification to a phone, a code that only that person is sent, or something else).
MFA should also become second nature. MFA is one of those low-cost cyber security measures that should be employed more often!
Because passwords have become both weaker and more available as a result of data breaches, organisations must take additional precautions to safeguard their assets from bad actors posing as others.
Making it more difficult for bad guys to access sensitive data is the goal of cyber security, and multi-factor authentication makes cyber-criminals work harder.
As the link above demonstrates, cybercriminals may quickly steal someone's credentials (yet another reason to train!).
Adding levels of protection or verification is crucial to a business, whether they deceive someone via social engineering (more on that below) or purchase your information from the dark web (spoiler warning, they will).
3. Administrative Policies
Another phrase that no one wants to hear, but in truth, anything someone does at work may be covered by a policy.
Simple procedures regarding administration (aka the human side of security) might be the difference between a significant and minor cyber disaster.
Strong passwords, a clean desk policy, locking computers/devices while not in use, an email policy, and so on are examples of administration policies.
Most of the time, cybercriminals aren't guessing your password based on their own arithmetic abilities. To figure it out, they employ a computer programme. After all, a machine is marginally better than a human at math.
So, make the arithmetic more difficult!
Unique passwords may become a highly potent protection strategy for a firm if a robust password (or pass) technique policy is implemented.
4. Phishing Simulation Software
According to Verizon's 2018 Data Breach Investigations Report, one out of every three phishing emails gets opened by a user in the United States.
How can a company be certain that its cyber protection programme is effective if it is not tested? Phishing simulations are a wonderful approach to assess if workers are following policies and learning from their training in a cost-effective and innovative way. Invest in a phishing simulator that includes an infinite number of tests and templates. A company should always be testing their employees with simple (easy) assaults all the way up to complex ones.
As previously said, assaults occur in numerous shapes and sizes, therefore testing different aspects of the business with distinct simulated attacks can assist enhance the organization's awareness.
5. Cybersecurity Insurance
Fortunately, there are several excellent cyber insurance carriers available.
According to a recent poll, a large number of organisations have not obtained cyber liability or data-breach coverage.
Businesses are not acquiring cyber insurance at a pace commensurate with the dangers they face.
Regardless matter whatever supplier a company approaches for a quotation, the reaction is likely to be the same: "You need a solid cyber security programme, and you need to show it."
Perhaps the company already follows a certain security standard, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Cyber Security Framework (aka NIST CSF).
If this is the case, the odds are in your favour that an insurance provider will give enough coverage, knowing that the business leaders are going above and beyond "what is necessary," within their resources, to safeguard the company and, more importantly, its consumers.
Even if a company implements the recommendations in this piece, it will be able to get a low-cost cyber insurance coverage.
Cybersecurity Solutions
Cybersecurity solutions are technology that organisations use to help protect themselves from cybersecurity assaults, as well as inadvertent harm, natural disasters, and other threats. The many forms of security systems are as follows:
Application security
—is used to examine software application vulnerabilities during development and testing, as well as to protect production applications from threats such as network attacks, software vulnerability exploits, and web application attacks.
Network security
—examines network traffic, identifies potentially risky behaviour, and enables enterprises to limit, filter, or reduce hazards.
Cloud Security
—Installs security controls in public, private, and hybrid cloud systems, detecting and fixing incorrect security configurations and vulnerabilities.
Endpoint security
—security implemented on endpoint devices like as servers and employee workstations to avoid risks such as malware, illegal access, and exploiting operating system and browser vulnerabilities.
Internet of Things (IoT) security
—connected devices are frequently used to hold sensitive data, but they are rarely designed to be secure. IoT security solutions aid in the visibility and security of IoT devices.
Threat intelligence
—a collection of data streams comprising information about attack signatures and threat actors that adds context to security occurrences. Threat intelligence data may assist security teams in detecting threats, understanding them, and designing the best possible response.