Cyber attacks have drastically advanced, with criminals using more sophisticated tools to steal and misuse company data. This has increased ransomware, phishing attempts, DoS attacks, SQL injections, and more. Installing antiviruses and setting up a firewall is no longer enough. You need an effective cyber security strategy to maximize your organization’s resiliency and security.
Your cyber security strategy should outline every individual’s duties and responsibilities towards ensuring the company’s cyber security. It gives you a deeper understanding of your risks, enables early risk detection, is inherently proactive, supports a swift response, and helps you meet compliance standards. This article outlines five tips for an effective cyber security strategy for your business.
1.   Create a cyber attack recovery plan
Cyber attacks can be costly and sometimes threaten your business’s existence, calling for a recovery plan. Their operational and financial repercussions may include notification and remediation costs, loss of customers, reduced productivity, long-term litigation and reputation damage costs, and restoration of key business systems.
With a cyber attack recovery plan, which includes instructions guiding teams on preparing for, spotting, countering, and recovering from cyber attacks, you can protect your business, employees, and client data and finances. A comprehensive response plan should address everything that might be affected by the loss of crucial information and operational systems.
2.   Ensure excellent data management
Data management safeguards your company and its employees from data breaches, thefts, and losses with encryption and authentication tools. Solid data security keeps crucial company data backed up and easy to retrieve in case the primary source isn’t available. In addition, security becomes a critical concern if your information has personally identifiable data that requires careful management to comply with consumer protection laws. Effective data management ensures that persons across your company can access reliable data for their queries.
3.   Implement access control
Access control limits access to data and data processing systems. If implemented effectively, access controls mitigate the risk of information getting accessed unlawfully, without proper authorization, and the possibility of a data breach. While a focus on privacy and security is crucial to protecting company information while meeting data protection legal obligations, you should balance accessibility because being overly restrictive may lead to information silos. To create a successful access control environment, consider:
- Access control principles
- Who approves access requests
- Who ensures proper access implementation
- How you’ll document access
- How you’ll implement access controls
- Periodic access control audit procedure
4.   Initiate cyber security training for employees
Empowering your workers to identify common cyber security threats, such as phishing, business email compromise, spyware, and ransomware, is crucial to your business’s cyber security. Cyber security training helps employees understand business operation threats and vulnerabilities and how to spot and counter them, enhancing data security. It also reduces downtime and the costs associated with cybercrime, makes employees more productive, ensures better compliance, and increases customer trust.
5.   Conduct a cybersecurity risk assessment
A cybersecurity risk assessment is crucial in identifying your business’s vulnerability areas. It can also help you educate your employees on the potential threats the company might face, where the risks may occur, and how they can affect their role. Cybersecurity risk assessment enables you to mitigate breaches or attacks, keeping you prepared for the worst.
Endnote
Cyber security is vital to every organization’s growth and success. Use these tips to create an effective cyber security strategy for your business.
