New & unique cyber threats have forced businesses to have a more proactive and hands-on approach towards security measures. Numerous reports and studies, including one by SIA and Wall Street Journal, have discussed the evolving landscape of cybersecurity. For businesses, there is no choice but to adopt digital transformation. Complex and hybrid IT environments may have cost benefits, but the security concerns have also increased.
So, how can your company handle both digital transformation and security concerns? We have a list of cybersecurity steps that may come in handy.
- Get the security community onboard. Sometimes, it is hard to be critical of your cybersecurity measures, and that’s precisely why hiring a team of experts for an independent evaluation may help. You can also consider hiring ethical hackers or running a bug bounty program.
- Train your people. As more employees get used to using cloud services and on-premise solutions, they need to know the cyber threats and how hackers can target them. Unfortunately, a big number of cyberattacks can be traced back to employees and insiders, and their awareness does matter.
- Focus on password protection measures. Passwords need to be strong, long and should have special characters. Where needed, consider using multifactor authentication, and ensure that default usernames & passwords are changed immediately.
- Update all software. All firmware, software programs, apps, and operating systems should be updated to the latest versions. Check if devices have software programs that are not in use anymore, and remove them immediately.
- Schedule network scans and testing. Penetration testing, focusing on network scans, device checks are important steps to find backdoor attacks, malware, and other kinds of malicious programs. Ensure that your company has a plan for such testing in place.
- Network segmentation, also called firebreaks, must be used where needed. This is about dividing a large network into subnetworks, so that compromise on one doesn’t impact others.
- Check for new threats. Finally, keep an eye on emerging cyberthreats. For instance, many hackers are now sending emails claiming that data has been stolen and asking for a ransom. This kind of emails are usually spam and trick users by causing fear to pay the money.
Cybersecurity measures have to be updated from time to time, and employees must be informed on various protocols that they need to follow. Ensuring security should involve all levels of the organization, just how digital transformation helps every employee in some way or the other.
