| ① | Raise cyber security awareness |
Employees, senior management, and executives cannot be expected to keep their organisations safe without knowing what and where the threats are. If there are any changes to platforms, processes or procedures you must consider and communicate the impact on your digital and cyber exposure. Every employee must be aware of how they play a part in this.
| ② | Back up your information |
Having your primary systems protected and backed up is key, but if you have not applied the same defences to your secondary data sources then it will undo all your hard work. Consider your entire digital footprint and put defences around everything. Criminals will find a way in if you don’t.
| ③ | Protect your social media accounts |
It is all too easy to forget that having social media accounts adds to your organisation’s cyber vulnerability. Ensure that social media policies, procedures, and defences are in place. They may not be able to directly access your financial systems and data, but cyber criminals can cause huge reputational damage or business disruption.
| ④ | Examine your supply chains |
Supply chains can also be a cyber security vulnerability that is difficult to manage. Examine how your supply chain partners manage their cyber risks and how any weaknesses in their approach could impact on your operations.
| ⑤ | Update your operating systems |
This can be particularly difficult for public sector and not for profit organisations. But the significant impact of the WannaCry attack on the NHS a few years ago showed that outdated systems are a weakness that cyber criminals will exploit. One study found that 27 per cent of all cyber-attacks have been targeted at the healthcare or financial sectors. At a time when healthcare workers are relying on ready access to vital systems, now is a prime time for cyber criminals to target the sector.
| ⑥ | Educate staff on credential theft |
The tendency of employees to use their work email addresses and similar passwords to set up accounts for other web-based applications is a significant risk. If these websites and applications are compromised, this may very well expose your organisation to risk. So, it is vital that processes are in place to prevent this behaviour, and that employees are fully aware of them.
Cyber security is a whole-business issue, for firms of all size and type
Cyber criminals don’t just target large organisations. Data is king when it comes to cyber-crime, and cyber criminals are on the hunt for vulnerabilities wherever they exist. Weak IT controls can grant access to systems and provide cyber criminals with a route to underlying business and personnel data.
Studies show that cyber-attacks are up month on month by 37 per cent since the outbreak of Covid-19. As more employees choose to work from home, businesses will need to have robust cyber security and digital strategies that account for changing working practices and exposure to new threats.
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