If you thought 2014 was a bad year for cyberattacks (JP Morgan Chase, Target, and Sony Pictures are just a few of the companies to make the headlines), the number is only expected to increase, according to the Cisco CEO John Chambers, as more people continue to connect their electronic devices to the Internet. In order to prevent your business from becoming the headline of the day, here are 4 cybersecurity mistakes you should eliminate now:
1. Prevention vs. detection. – Regardless of the industry, most organizations tend to focus heavily on prevention instead of detection and monitoring. Cybercriminals continuously work perfect their craft, which means your prevention plan is almost destined to fail.
2. Vulnerabilities vs. threats. In order to make sure your security program is effective, increase the emphasis of threat in your prevention program in order to more accurately assess and manage your risks.
3. Lack of security awareness programs. Criminals know that not all employees are equally aware of the risks as well as the fact that not all employees follow the organization’s security guidelines closely. Security is a team effort, but all individuals should be addressed through training.
4. IT professionals are not cybersecurity professionals. Cybersecurity is a separate profession, and the sooner businesses realize it, the better off they will be. Show how serious your business is about combating cybersecurity by hiring professionals.
Because compliance with the law and company policy is mandatory, and security is a necessity for businesses of all sizes, here are 5 additional areas firms can explore to manage their legal risks and prevent them from becoming a victim of a cyberattack.
1. “The best defense is a good offense.” This saying definitely applies to cybesecurity because any solution should be all-inclusive and support the range of internal and external communications, as well as data transfers and storage.
2. Encryption is not enough. While the intent of the process is to protect sensitive information from vulnerabilities by transforming information into an unintelligible code, it was not enough to protect several large companies from security breaches (see the list at the beginning of the article).
3. Unsecured e-mail. Fortunately for cybercriminals, e-mail continues to be the most frequently used method of business communication, despite the fact that securing e-mail for businesses is a complicated challenge. Because e-mail encryption is a requirement for businesses, firms should decide what method and how it can be implemented is best for them.
4. Mobile device hacking. The ease at which devices can be transported has resulted in the loss of protection offered by traditional network facility solutions. These days a Wi-Fi hacking device can be purchased for less than $100 and used by a hacker to gain access to various wireless local networks within seconds.
5. Unsecured text messages. By sending a simple text message disguised to look legitimate, hackers have gained the ability to access information and change control settings without the user having any clue that a breach has occurred.
Understanding where potential weaknesses lie is the first step to combating cybersecurity in any business. However, businesses dream about ending cyberattacks as much as cybercriminals dream of carrying them out. It is important to remember that it is never the risk that causes damage to a business’ finances and reputation but rather how businesses respond to it.
