In today’s digital age, cyber-attacks pose a significant threat to businesses worldwide, with three in four companies at risk. As cyber threats evolve, safeguarding your enterprise from potential breaches is more critical than ever. To help protect your organisation, Dr Phil Legg, a cybersecurity expert at Independent advisor Best VPN, has compiled the top 10 proven steps to secure your business from cyber-attacks.
Microsoft Intune and Apple provide MDM capabilities for devices used within an enterprise environment. These capabilities allow IT administrators to manage devices in the unfortunate case of theft or loss. MDM also enables teams to ensure that devices are used for their intended business purposes and helps keep security patches up to date for individual employees.
Online enterprise platforms such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace both support 2FA, meaning that users not only require their password to log in but also need to authenticate their login activity using a second factor, such as a mobile phone authenticator app or a physical security device. If a password is compromised, 2FA provides additional account security to protect your logins from intruders.
Where users are required to maintain accounts for multiple online services, a password manager can help curate and store unique passwords for each service. With unique passwords for different services (websites), even if one is compromised and learnt by an attacker, other accounts are more likely to remain secure.
Last year alone, more than 400,000 cases of fraud and computer misuse were recorded, with 46% of UK businesses experiencing a cyber attack. Providing a secure VPN is essential for maintaining online privacy and security to protect your business from cyber-attacks. At their core, a VPN establishes an encrypted connection between your device and a remote server, keeping your internet activities private and safer from unwanted tracking.
Ensure that employees have clear guidance on maintaining the physical security of their work assets, including laptops and other devices with sensitive information or access.
Just as physical security is critical, ensure staff are aware of the threat of shoulder surfing – where a stranger can gather your private information by secretly watching your screen. This is especially likely when working in public spaces like cafes and trains. Never reveal sensitive data, like a password or credit card information, on a laptop screen in a public space.
If a widespread incident were to occur across your IT estate, would you have a plan B? How would the organisation operate without email or access to specific systems? Ensure that a BCP is in place that is both realistic and actionable, with clear guidance on how this would be implemented if necessary.
Understand the operational cost to the business if such an event should occur and assess the expected likelihood of such an event occurring. This should factor into your risk management strategy.
Understand and classify the importance of your data assets, and ensure that off-site backups are maintained regularly — especially for any data that is crucial for your business to function.
In the case of natural phenomena (e.g., earthquakes, flooding, hurricanes, etc.), consider using cloud storage to provide offsite backup. Microsoft, Google, Apple, and other third parties all offer options for this, alleviating the risk of storing data on a specific physical device.
However, before you create a backup, you should also consider the classification of data and whether the data is appropriate to be stored within a cloud environment managed by a third party.
Ensure that staff remain vigilant about e-mail usage and potential phishing attacks. Provide training so that staff act cautiously when deciding whether to click links from unexpected emails.
Providers such as Microsoft are constantly improving their spam recognition and phishing detection, but scrutinising your inbox is still important. If you are ever in doubt about whether an email is legitimate, consider contacting the sender via phone to confirm that the email is genuine.
Provide staff with training on using social media in the business context. Attackers can exploit LinkedIn and other platforms (including company websites) to gain knowledge about organisations.
Ensure staff remain vigilant to such threats, including the potential to be befriended by online contacts via social media and the luring of sensitive information about workplace activity.
Ready to strengthen your business’s cybersecurity? Start implementing these top strategies today to protect your business from cyber-attacks.
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