2023 and the importance of Cyber Security for Businesses

Today, security issues arise multiple times a day with the potential of ruining your business. Advanced cyber hacking and attack techniques combined with the quick-changing global business environment also bring new challenges.

In the past few years an increase in malicious attacks on digital systems to include: data theft, fraudulent activity and misuse of personal information leave many of us anxious and confused.  

Cyber security awareness is one of the key components to safeguarding and managing your business security profile. Cybersecurity management helps guard against cyber crimes, hacking, and fraud. But, what’s the importance of cybersecurity to the business cycle?

That’s what we will discuss in this article on cybersecurity.

Cyber Security Definition 

Cyber security is the practice of protecting servers, devices, electronic gadgets and sensitive data from suspicious malware vulnerabilities. This process is also known as information security management.  

Cybersecurity controls identify the vulnerabilities of networks, applications, and data to manage these threats.

The Classification of Cyber Attacks

There are several types of cyber attacks that typically occur : 

Phishing Attacks

These attacks utilise a suspicious email or text message link to trick people into giving up sensitive/private data.

Malware Attacks

Malware attack techniques are conducted via ransomware, viruses, spyware, or suspicious download links to corrupt and/or access user data. 

Denial of Service (DDS)

In this type of attack the cyber attacker sends a higher volume of traffic to targeted systems that leads to the website or applications shutting down or slowing access to the network due to the high volume of incoming malicious traffic. 

Man in the Middle 

This is a  kind of cyber attack that takes place  when a perpetrator places him/herself between the end user application and an attacker trying to access the system.

Password Hack

Using a poor-quality password may lead to compromise and the loss of sensitive data. An attacker simply works on stealing passwords from the users to gain access to the system/network.

SQL Injection

SQL injection, also known as SQLI, is a common attack vector that uses malicious SQL code to manipulate programs and to gain access to information that was not intended to be displayed. 

The Role of Cybersecurity in Business

More sophisticated hacking techniques lead to a boost in the incidents of cyber attacks and theft. Every innovation to your business now normally entirely relies on technology, which may have gaps and holes. 

Finance and monetary fraud via online banking, credit/debit card information hacks, misuse of company data, and confidential data misuse have  increased dramatically in recent years due to the increase in online/e-commerce. 

Every individual and business needs to be aware of, and implement, key controls in their business lifecycle to defend against cyber-attacks and breaches. Cyber breaches can lead to negative financial, operational, or reputational harm, often-times with catastrophic results for your business.

Emerging technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, cloud technology, and smart devices can be used to identify problems and fix them. Other technologies provide the ability to fix/remediate deficiencies automatically (self-healing). 

How to Defend Data: Important Factors in Cybersecurity for Businesses

Guide and train the employees

Employees need training to secure their organization’s data from cyber threats. As laptops/devices are used both in the office or remote environment, companies should be aware of phishing attacks, cloning of websites, data/password compromise, SQL attacks, and internet network hacking. 

Create a strong and diverse authentication system

To protect businesses from unwanted cyber threat from an access perspective, it make sense to, use two-factor authentication and/or  multi factor authentication(MFA) Sensitve data (financial, private, intellectual proerty, healthcare) should always have strong authentication support to manage access. Multi factor authentication includes individual mobile OTP (what is this  acronym) and facial recognition software required to unlock processes to manage two, or multi factor authentication processes, will provide more in depth defence against the cyber attacker and provide the business with increased security.

Shield the login system

Protect the login system to be safe from password attacks. Employees should be trained to use unique and hard to compromise passwords. Combining upper and lower case letters, numerical values, and special characters are elements of strong passwords. 

Don’t use the same passwords for different accounts and change passwords quarterly.

Use appropriate and up to date security software

To protect businesses from cyber attacks, the business or service providers should use security and antivirus software that will scan the system regularly. The software will detect malware or suspicious files and secure the system from cyber loss. Security tools used can vary widely from securing your email or managing your messaging as well as securing your broswer/ Always making sure you use virtual private network (VPN) on open Wifi acces points. Security tools use is based on your usage or use cases and how you access and manage work related data. 

Backup data

It is essential to preserve a copy of the backup data utilized by the business. Always keep incremental and full backups of data on a schedule that meets standards. Test the backup data and recover from it. The cloud does not provide any additional security to backup data. The encryption of data or additinal layers of access controls must be defined and purchased in the cloud as well. As for business continuity and disaster recovery make sure you have environments that are not connected and have failover capability. 

Maintain prompt tracking and recognition

A business must track its multiple computing systems and networks to verify that there is no suspicious activity. Additionally, the cybersecurity tracking system is a rapid tool to identify potential cyber threats. 

Appoint a specialist or skilled consultant company

Don’t lose years of hard work and potentially your business because of a cyber attack. Consider hiring a security specialist or security consultant to secure your business data. 

A secureflo consultant will assist and guide your business through the process of protecting it’s data by installing, using and monitoring well-built security defences and software. 

Final Thoughts

Maintaining the security of your sensitive client and business information in today’s rapidly changing cyber environment is challenging. Secureflo provides expertise in the field of cybersecurity, privacy, testing, and training. We have successfully handled services and worked on minimising risks for a range of companies. Let us leverage our in-house expertise to secure your business today.