Five Tips for Ensuring the Best Cybersecurity Plan for Your Business

The internet is a mixed basket for your business. Conducting business online can unlock many profitable opportunities. But it can also leave you at the mercy of ruthless cyber criminals. 

 

You're unlikely to succeed unless your business is adequately prepared to repel increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. Cybercriminals are making cyberspace an increasingly hostile business environment. Since 2020, cybercrime has risen to become the 5th biggest business risk, and the attack rate is expected to double by 2025. 

 

What should you know about cybersecurity?

 

Cybersecurity is an ongoing security for all internet users, including businesses. The Covid-19 pandemic led many companies to move online for the first time in 2020. The unprecedented number of new online businesses saw a six-fold increase in cybercrime. Small and medium-sized enterprises became prime targets since they lacked adequate cybersecurity measures. 

 

Previously, cyberattacks were comparable to burglary. Cybercriminals broke into computer systems to steal money and intellectual property. That's no longer the case. Today, cybercrime is comparable to a home invasion. 

 

Hackers will infiltrate your system for the computing power. They will hijack your network infrastructure and technology and use it as a base of operation. 

 

They will lock you out of the computer network and use it to attack your customers, other companies, government facilities, and more. This attack mode means every business, large or small, is vulnerable to cyberattacks and needs to take cybersecurity seriously. 

 

Today, it's no longer enough to install an antivirus or set up a firewall in your network and call it done. The nature of cyberattacks has escalated with the bad actors using sophisticated tools that threaten even the most secure networks. 

 

It takes a systematic approach to cybersecurity to secure your business from dramatically evolving cyber-attacks. Creating a cybersecurity plan is the most effective way to improve your resilience and mitigate the risks associated with cyberattacks. 

 

Why is creating a cybersecurity plan important?

 

A cybersecurity plan is your first line of defense against cybercriminals out to disrupt your business. A robust plant bolsters your ability to defend against cyberattacks and mitigate any risk associated with using a computer network. 

 

The best cybersecurity plans cover every angle of your online security. That includes strategy, procedures, policy, and the technology your company will use to improve risk management.  

 

Creating a cybersecurity plan for your business is important for a variety of reasons, including: 

 

Safeguarding against failure and losses

 

A cybersecurity plan protects your employees and business from cyberattacks. Data breaches are highly disruptive and may lead you to incur huge losses. When cybercriminals penetrate a network, they cause your computer systems and communication systems to fail. 

 

They will raid your bank account while stealing sensitive information and trade secrets. They'll lead you to incur huge financial losses while causing your business process to fail for an indeterminate time. A solid cybersecurity plan will improve your resilience against such attacks and safeguard your business against failure and losses. 

 

Liability Protection 

 

Besides raiding your coffers, hackers use data breaches to steal sensitive and confidential information. They will steal personal identification data and financial information, such as credit card numbers 

 

When sensitive customer data falls into the wrong hands, your customers may suffer severe losses and damages. Your company may be held liable for the losses and damages resulting from the data security breach. 

 

A cybersecurity plan will help fortify your computer network security. Lowering network vulnerability is the most effective way to protect your business from data security breach liability.  

 

Five tips to creating a cybersecurity plan

 

1. Perform a security risk assessment: Use this process to audit your data collection and handling process and where the data is stored. You should also identify security flaws and vulnerabilities in your data handling and storage process. 

2. Identify your security goals: Measure your current cybersecurity capabilities and determine your company's risk appetite. This will help you determine how and where to prioritize cyber security and set reasonable expectations. It also helps you deal with low-hanging fruits quickly. 

3. Evaluate your current technology: How do your systems hold up against your security needs? Are you using the latest versions? Do you have sufficient resources to manage your systems? Is your system bloated, and how well does it hold up against the best security practices?  

4. Choose a security framework: A security framework provides the security measures and controls you need to monitor and evaluate your network security. Choose a framework that fits your company's regulatory requirements, such as HIPAA, PCI, SOX, or GDPR. It should also align with your business goals. 

5. Update Your Security Policies: Thoroughly review and update your security policies to address emerging threats and changing online security policies. Set a policy review frequency and establish a security awareness protocol to train your employees on the new security measures.