Cyber threats are a common occurrence for anyone online, business, or individual. It is devastating when your cybersecurity has been compromised and it is an even worse feeling knowing that confidential and personal information has been stolen. It is always a hassle to change details, like banking information and passwords, but it is necessary to prevent anyone from benefiting from your stolen information. Whilst you may not be able to stop the rise in cybercrime, you may be able to respond quickly to minimize the damage they can cause.
Preparing
Having no strategy in respect of dealing with cyber threats is leaving your business open to attack, furthermore, it is also leaving your customers vulnerable to having their details stolen and being used for nefarious purposes. Working with consultants that specialize in helping businesses optimize their use of IT will provide the expertise needed to prepare against potential cyber-attacks. Granted, using anti-hacking software may prevent hackers from accessing your information, however, this is only finite. Hackers are always seeking to exploit weaknesses in your defenses – it is the purpose of what they do. With this in mind, it is best to prepare for the eventuality of an attack.
Action Plan
Having a contingency plan that will inform employees about what to do should a cyber threat arise. This will include a list of people who should be immediately contacted, including who should decide to contact law enforcement as well as initiate any recovery procedures. It may be prudent to have contact details of key members of staff that can then determine what third parties need contacting, in this regard.
Someone should be responsible for deciding what to do with your data in the event of a breach. For instance, should your systems be automatically shut down or moved to a backup site? Furthermore, do any tangible documents or materials require moving to a safer place in the interim?
Your response plan should detail what to do in the event of different types of data breaches as some are more serious than others, although all can be devastating to experience. By having such plans, you are better able to determine what constitutes a serious information security incident, such as your website being compromised and data therein being stolen.
Regularly Test Your Systems
You may want to periodically test your systems, more so if there is a potential threat to them or a weakness identified. This way you can ensure your systems, software, and apps are kept up-to-date. In addition to this, you can determine whether there are any weaknesses in them by regularly conducting scans and tests to check for any potential vulnerabilities.
Responding
Securing your systems to the best of your abilities can prevent your data whilst minimizing any damage or costs incurred by your business for any cyber threat being effectively actioned. Several things need to be done, almost simultaneously but also without delay. For instance, changing passwords should be one immediately as should isolating the compromised section of your network to discover where the data breach is and its extent. This is a better tactic than going offline because it doesn’t notify the hackers that their actions have been noticed and can also limit the amount of data lost.
Isolating an area of your network can compromise your business’s effectiveness to operate. This may cause aspects of it to slow down. In this event, it would be a good idea to have backup systems in place that are regularly run so that they are adequately operational for your business’s immediate requirements.
You should inform your customers of this breach, notifying them of what preventative measures have been taken to protect them as well as what they can do to further protect themselves. Be open to accepting them contacting you with their concerns and deal with them with compassion, assuring them with how you have dealt or are dealing with the matter. In this respect, notifying the authorities of any breach will also further protect your customers, so by doing so you can also inform your customers of the same.
Developing Employee Knowledge
Employees must be aware of the dangers of cyber threats. Not all of them will have the same knowledge in this regard, therefore, you must provide training courses to highlight the dangers this poses to them as individuals as well as their workplace. By doing this, it will ensure that all of your employees at least have a basic awareness of the dangers. With this knowledge, they are more than likely to be more careful when dealing with confidential or sensitive information because they have a greater understanding of the risks cybercrime poses.
No one wants to fall foul to a cyber threat, but it is becoming more frequent. Monitoring the latest news concerning cyber threats or attacks is vital in understanding and preparing against one. Also, taking an interest in the latest protection available may be useful, especially if you believe it would be more beneficial to your business than what you currently have in place. In addition, preventing cybercrime involves your whole workforce, so also make sure they know how important this is, both in their professional as well as personal lives. This provides them with meaning and a greater understanding of the ramifications cyberthreats can cause.
