5 ways to protect your company from cyber-attacks

Date: 12 May 2021

Cyber-attacks are more rampant today than ever before. Attacks like the SolarWinds hack prove that even the biggest and strongest organisations in terms of cyber security measures are not immune to cyber crime anymore. 

Since the pandemic, cyber attacks have become more common as a majority of employees worldwide are working from home on their personal computers and networks. This has made cyber crime more ubiquitous and more lucrative than ever. Cyber threats, today, range from ransomware, viruses, malware, phishing attacks to much more sophisticated DDOS attacks, Zero Day Exploits and DNS Tunneling. 

While the situation may sound grave, there is still a lot you can do to protect your business from cyber-attacks and secure the sensitive information that your business may be handling. 

How can you protect your organization against cyber crime? 

1. Train your staff in cybersecurity and incident response 

Not everyone working in your company is aware of the dangers of cyber threats. They may not even realise how a small, unintentional mistake from their end can jeopardize the security infrastructure of your entire company. Usually, intruders try to find an entry point to your business through an unsuspecting staff member. This could be an employee with a weak password or anyone working in the same environment. You can't train all your staff members to make them IT specialists. Yet, even those who are IT savvy may not always know the best steps to take in case of a cyber-attack. 

Keeping all of the above in mind, it has become imperative today to invest in a good cyber security training course that equips your employees with basic security knowledge and awareness. You must also consider a specialised Cyber Incident Planning & Response training course that will help the key stakeholders make the right decisions and take the right steps when the business is attacked. 

2. Assess the security of the internet & your infrastructure:

If you want to keep your business secure, you need to keep assessing your network security and information security infrastructure. After all, the internet and associated systems are what cyber criminals will use to attack your business.  

Many organisations choose to hire an external expert who assesses the digital health of their business as well their ability to respond to a cyber incident. You can either opt for a quick one-day health assessment or a detailed breach readiness assessment. You can also consider evaluating the efficiency of your incident response plans and playbooks through simulation-based cyber incident response tabletop exercises. Investing in such evaluations can go a long way in mitigating damage to your business if and when it is compromised. 

3. Allocate resources:

Unfortunately, many people don't pay much heed to potential threats. As a result, they get more prone to cyber-attacks. One of the best ways to prevent cyber attacks is to make sure that you have adequate budgetary allocations for tools and technologies that can be used to keep your business and its sensitive data safe. As your business grows in size and complexity, resources allocated towards network protection and endpoint security should go up in tandem.  

4. Monitor all the threats:

Apart from being aware and prepared for all possible cyber threats, it is also important to monitor your systems round the clock. This way any glitches or unusual activity can be identified in real time and be fixed to prevent further problems. This greatly improves the business’s chances of being protected from cyber crime.  

There are software solutions that can monitor your system and security all the time. You can also hire a security analyst for this purpose. Getting services of managed service providers like digital fire is another alternative.   

5. Prevent hardware theft:

Oftentimes, a cyber attack happens when the attacker accesses the hardware used by the system you are trying to protect. If hardware theft has occurred at your workplace, you should be extra vigilant as the security of your business is definitely  at stake.