As if 2021 wasn’t challenging enough, leading experts have identified a significant increase in attacks and malicious activity from cyber criminals, hackers and other bad actors, often exploiting remote workers and insecure corporate networks.
5 steps to protect your organisation from cyber threats and security risks
If you’re responsible for business or personal data of any kind, cyber security experts are advising leaders to assume that, sooner or later, your organisation is likely to become a target. If it’s a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’, now is the time to assess your current security posture and take steps to ensure your organisation is fully compliant.
It can seem daunting, but these 5 clear steps provide an effective roadmap to securing the important information within your organisation:
1. Understand your legal obligations
Many countries have recognised the harm caused by data breaches and have enacted significant legislation (with commensurate penalties) to ensure organisations understand their obligations. In Australia, the application of privacy policies and handling of customer or client data is regulated by the Australian Privacy Act which includes 13 Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) – this should be your first port of call to help you get a clearer picture of your obligations.
2. Identify and assess potential risks
Any data, information or knowledge your business has collected from clients, customers or supporters could be of value to a potential attacker. Also look for information and assets that are vital for the smooth operation of your business to run smoothly, such as accounts and passwords. Keep a thorough record of the collection methods and storage locations of personal and sensitive information. Once you have identified all ‘critical assets’, request a complementary Dark Web Scan, which reveals any exposed data, compromised accounts and predicts the likelihood and impact of cyber-attack. Plus, you'll be provided with expert suggestions on how to fend off hackers.
3. Take action to prevent and mitigate breaches
The Dark Web Scan helps you prioritise and plan your preventative action, which should consider leveraging Microsoft 365 to safeguard employees, data, and client information with enterprise-grade security, promoting good password habits and hygiene, and maintaining regular off-site data backups.
4. Engage your staff
Cyber security is only as effective as the humans implementing it, so invest time in a cyber security awareness education and training program to help your staff get up to speed and comfortable with the threats and protections available. Publishing and distributing clear policy guidelines on security and data privacy, as well as collection of information, helps set expectations amongst staff and goes a long way to ensuring ongoing compliance.
5. Have an action and response plan
If you wait until a crisis to plan your response, you’ve waited too long. Run scenarios and role-play responses in real-time, just as a sports team would do before a game. Ensure people in your organisation know who is responsible for the various tasks as you step through the common stages of a security breach. After each exercise, review performance and update policies and procedures to improve your response.
Cyber security isn’t just good business sense – it could also help to ensure the future of your organisation. There is an increased concern about the threat of cyber-attacks at both state and federal levels and cybersecurity reforms and compliance requirements are on the horizon. Businesses across all sectors must prepare to adopt a more proactive approach towards cybersecurity.
Your organisation's success depends on your security posture
Remember - the aim of most hackers and ‘bad actors’ is not to kick in the cyber front door – they gain advantage by remaining undetected, moving around your systems and collecting information over a long period of time. This explains why many data attacks are detected months after the initial breach.
If you haven’t already, the smartest thing you can do today is to request a complementary Dark Web Scan to ascertain whether any of your organisations’ data has already been compromised and made available on the dark web for purchase.
Our team has years of experience assisting organisations of all sizes to maintain security integrity and our complimentary Dark Web analysis can help get you started. Click here to request a confidential assessment, and we'll be in touch personally to show you what we find.
