Cyber security is crucial for businesses. Many threats come alongside the advantages of a tech-driven world but they are preventable. Stolen data, for instance, is potentially worth a lot of money to cybercriminals but through dark web monitoring, you can work to protect your data and your business. In this post, we share with you a full break down of how to improve your business’s cyber security in three steps so you can avoid the costly consequences of stolen data and more.
Identify Weaknesses With Cyber Security Assessments
Step one is to find any weaknesses in your cyber security. To fix your security you need to know what needs fixing. Thankfully there are many assessments and cyber security audits available to help you identify weak spots and areas for improvement. If you are trying to improve your cyber security you should look into a dark web assessment, a firewall assessment and a network security assessment. Where necessary penetration testing using ethical hacking to identify vulnerabilities in your systems could save you from costly attacks from hackers with ill intent.
In some cases, ongoing support such as dark web monitoring may be needed to keep up to date with potential threats. Once you have rigorously tested your security you should use your findings to resolve any issues and vulnerabilities.
Create And Manage Stronger Passwords
The second step is to fix your passwords. There are several steps within this process but if you do them all you’ll significantly improve your security. Firstly, improve your passwords and change any repeated passwords. Using the same password for multiple logins means you’re as vulnerable as the weakest point in your security – even if you have great security in one area it is redundant if hackers can find the password because you reused it on something less secure. Of course, if you’re using multiple complex passwords you’ll need to manage them. There are plenty of password management tools available – do your research and find one that offers what you need along with top tier security.
Is your list of passwords excessive? Look through the list is there any unused accounts? If there are unused accounts which you can delete, delete them. Keeping them just presents an extra target for hackers – if you don’t use it and don’t need it, don’t keep it.
Next, activate two-factor authentication. This will secure you further against password thieves. Even if your complex and unique passwords do fall into the hands of thieves two-factor authentication will leave them unable to access your accounts. Two-factor authentication is essential for secure authentication to your business critical systems.
Cyber Security and Data Protection Training
Finally, one of the biggest vulnerabilities in any company’s cyber security is people. The nature of being human is we make mistakes and when it comes to cyber security the biggest mistakes are often made by people that don’t even know they are doing anything wrong. This is why proper cyber security training is an essential company-wide. Every system and security measure you put in place only work if your employee’s use and follow them. When properly trained employees are a huge asset in keeping your company safe, when they are not, however, they may pose a liability whether they know it or not. This is easily fixed some training on your systems as well as the importance of cyber security will see that even with human error your vulnerabilities are minimal.
Final Note
Cyber security is vitally important. However, with just a few steps you can make huge improvements in your company’s security and protect it from hugely damaging attacks and much more.