The old saying dress for the job you want, not the job you have couldn’t be more true not only for clothing guidelines, but also for cybersecurity standards that are applied in a workplace.
What do clothes have to do with cybersecurity? Although they are not exactly related, the same principle should apply when it comes to safeguarding an SMBs network and presence online.
Even if your company plans on staying relatively at the same size, you should still think like the big fish to have a foot forward when it comes to implementing cybersecurity policies.
Common Cybersecurity Malpractices SMBs are Guilty of Doing
Unfortunately, SMBs are the companies that face the biggest risk of suffering a cyber attack not only in Australia but in the whole world. This is because small to medium-sized companies tend to take a more easy-going approach in terms of educating employees about risks of cyber attacks.
Executives of SMBs often think that they don’t need to come up with a cybersecurity policy because they are at low risk of an attack as they are not as attractive financially as bigger enterprises.
However, this couldn’t be more wrong. On average, 43% of all cybersecurity breaches target SMBs according to Scurit.
While not all SMB executives live in oblivion and accept that there are challenges in the workplace regarding the implementation of strict cybersecurity policies, there is still a large amount of misinformation and misunderstanding about who should take charge of a company’s cybersecurity strength. Well, let me tell you something, that responsibility does not fall on the IT team.
In fact, most companies leave their cybersecurity presence in the hands of their IT department when it is likely that nobody in the team is really familiar with the depth of what they have to do to safeguard a company’s digital assets.
Instead, a team of experts in the field of cybersecurity should be in charge of providing a solid list of steps and actions that work towards safekeeping your online presence.
What the Big Fish do to Stay Safe Online
Of course no one is really safe from falling victim to a cyber criminal’s grasp. However, there is a reason why large-scale companies seem to be less likely to suffer from a cyber attack: strategy.
We all hear about these fancy techy terms regarding cybersecurity like secure network, VPN numbers and encrypted communication, but rarely anyone really understands these concepts or the importance of implementing them into the workplace. But big companies do understand it and do everything in their power to keep their staff, customers and assets safe from digital intruders.
One of the best things large-scale businesses do is to create secure networks online for their employees, so that they can only gain access to certain company platforms and only if they have the clearance to do so. In order to gain access to a company’s network, employees use special company login information in a company’s portal. This allows them to see and accomplish day-to-day tasks in a more private and secure manner.
Some companies take the extra steps to only allow their employees to use some software, while forbidding the use of other software that could pose a potential risk in their digital presence.
Taking it even one step further, there are enterprises that invest heavily into company devices so that their employees only work with company devices that have been prepared by their cybersecurity departments to have access to the company’s network.
Famous software offered by Microsoft, Google and Apple offer company-oriented features including email, hosting and video conference software that can only be accessed by other members of the company or on the same tier of work as you.
Pulling the Big Guns with Cybersecurity
Unfortunately, many individuals fail to see the bigger picture about how costly and harmful cyber attacks are and rely on basic tools such as antivirus software to be the only layer of protection between their digital assets and a cyber criminal’s reach.
According to McAfee, in 2017 alone cyber crime cost over $600 million US dollars to companies worldwide. If the numbers don’t give you the wake up call you need to start investing into your company’s future and well-being, you could fall victim to cyber crime much sooner than you expect.
Don’t wait to pull the big guns on the battle against cyber criminals and contact Kaesim Cybersecurity to get an evaluation about your current cybersecurity policies and to get started protecting your digital assets and your company’s future.