The other day, we talked about an assortment of security issues that could very well cause harm to your business if you aren’t prepared for them. We wanted to continue that conversation and discuss the things that you need to be sure are done so you are, in fact, prepared.
So, what security measures do you need to have in place to protect your business, its data, and its operations?
A key part of protecting your business is the strategy you create to do so. Take the time to undergo a complete security risk analysis to identify where your strengths are—and more importantly, where your weaknesses are—so you can appropriately strategize your approach to risk management.
This strategy should outline the policies and procedures that your personnel are to follow, along with straining to ensure they are aware of them. It’s also important that you have baseline standards that any business associates or vendors you work with will uphold on their end.
In terms of your business infrastructure, it is important that you have everything locked down and secured as well, starting with the operating system that is installed on each workstation and device. In addition to the OS, it is also critical that the antivirus is maintained, as are regular updates and patches to ensure that all baked-in security measures are up to snuff.
You should also put encryption to use on the hardware level to prevent data from being breached should the device be stolen.
There are quite a few threats that can come in via the Internet, meaning you need to have the protections and policies in place to prevent them from influencing your business. Your emails need to be encrypted, and should have additional anti-malware protections in place as well. If you implement remote work in any fashion, you also need to ensure that their capability to access their resources remains both simple and secure, whether those resources are hosted on your infrastructure or in the cloud.
Speaking of your infrastructure, we need to address your network security. There are a ton of policies and rules that you need to ensure are in place, from password policies to access control policies to Wi-Fi access policies and so on. You need to take the time to design and enforce all of them, ensuring that they apply to each and every device connected to the network through comprehensive monitoring.
Last (but absolutely not least), your business needs to have a backup as a part of a greater business continuity strategy—just in case a threat manages to slip past all your other protections. We always recommend you follow something known as the 3-2-1 Backup Rule, where you have at least three copies of your data, stored in two different locations and mediums, at least one of which is stored in the cloud. This backup can be the difference between your business making it through a cyberattack, or having to close up permanently.
If this all seems like a lot, it certainly can be… but you don’t need to tackle it alone. Reach out to First Column IT for our assistance with your cybersecurity by calling (571) 470-5594 today.
