Small and medium businesses, also known as SMBs, are being kept from thriving in their niche due to a lack of cyber security policies and understanding the necessity of such. However, most of the time, business owners or managers do not have the necessary skills or knowledge to implement such policies.
To shed some light about cyber security, including security monitoring, vulnerability scanning and visibility of your network, we have compiled the best expert advice and insights from the top government organisations on cyber security.
Security is Not Just for the Big Dogs
Within all of a business’ occupations, monitoring all online connections is often the last thing a small or medium-sized business considers doing and one of the first things a big business does. However, checking all online connections in a business’ day-to-day operations regardless of the size of the business is one of the most essential and important things.
Normally, small businesses do not see eye-to-eye with the need of the implementation of cybersecurity due to the high costs that come with the use of a Security Events and Incident Management (SEIM) platform.
These types of platforms can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, therefore if the expense is too much for a business, basic cyber hygiene and organisation would aid in the mitigation of cybersecurity breaches.
Monitoring Software Updates
A lot of people find automatic software updates annoying and inconvenient, which is why updates are often disabled on devices, causing devices to be exposed to major security threats through these missed updates.
Not allowing for automatic updates to be enabled is a major security update; in order to monitor for current updates there are tools such as Secunia PSI or brAIn box, which regularly run automatic scans of your system to monitor and check if any updates have been missed or need to be done. And if you have Cyber Insurance, maintaining regular updates is one of the requirements to fulfil an insurance policy.
Security Layers
Nowadays, most devices and platforms allow you to set up a 2-factor authentication (2FA), which although it can be tedious, should be a mandatory tool for all users, not just business owners. 2FA provides an extra layer of security and can store your passwords as well as vital information.
SMBs should integrate a mandatory cybersecurity policy in their workplace, which forces their team members to enable two-factor authentication for all of their social media and professional accounts.
Planning for the Worse
There is no one-size-fits all type of ordeal when it comes to cybersecurity plans and policies, however, there can never be too much planning regarding potential cybersecurity incidents occurring.
Having a concise cybersecurity plan and step-by-step process allows for less error to happen when users forget to assume their cyber responsibilities in the workplace or have poor judgement when it comes to implementing the appropriate steps.
In order to maintain a viable cybersecurity strategy, it’s important to maintain a flexible and easy-to-understand strategy that will be reasonable for team members of all backgrounds to implement into their daily habits on the net.
Although the tips mentioned above are essential parts of maintaining an essential cybersecurity strategy in play, there are far more steps that can be followed to keep a solid security wall that will ensure a business’ protection without having to implement significant financial investment.
To keep you informed, Kaesim Cybersecurity will present Part 2 of this article next week to share more essential tips for small and medium-sized businesses.
