If you’re a business IT person feeling somewhat apathetic toward cybersecurity, then you’re a hacker’s favorite target. From a cybercrime perspective, the common enterprise view that, “We haven’t been attacked now, so why should we worry?” is fuel for hackers. It’s the indifference they thrive on. Because when you’re looking away – out of disinterest or sheer laziness – is when cybercriminals will worm their way in. In an op-ed piece for USA Today, Mack McLarty and Tom Ridge – White House chief of staff for former President Bill Clinton and secretary of Homeland Security for former President George W. Bush, respectively – stated that there’s been a concerning lack of action on the part of governmental groups to combat cyberthreats.
“No one in business or government today can continue to plead surprise when it comes to the possibility of cyberattack,” they stated. “It is imperative that our political and private sector leaders work together to secure critical infrastructure and other networked systems from cyberpredators. ”
But the truth is that political powers aren’t the main players when it comes to cybersecurity. Indeed, the onus falls on companies to defend themselves against malicious intrusions. After all, if an attacker hits your business, would it make any sense to blame a lack of government cybersecurity regulations? Nope – everybody will just blame you.
Prepare for a breach by implementing a plan
Staving off a criminal cyber intrusion is all about preparation. Because cyberattacks can’t be predicted like, say, tomorrow’s weather, the responsibility falls on businesses to be prepared all the time. Cybersecurity isn’t like storm shutters – something you can put up only when inclement weather appears. Instead, it’s like a roof. Without a cybersecurity shield over their heads, businesses face exposure to the criminal elements. In order to construct this security roof, the key lies in making sure several things are in place. Here are some critical steps businesses must take to be proactive against hackers:
- Put in place endpoint security measures. Hackers are really, really hoping your company’s system is poorly guarded and ill-equipped to deal with a criminal encroachment. Prove them wrong by enacting endpoint layered security such as that offered by Faronics. The way Faronics antivirus protection software works is that it provides several layers of detection that make it extremely difficult for an imposter to avoid being noticed. And unlike many antivirus offerings, which are designed to handle a predetermined list of threats, Faronics leverages advanced technology to provide detection for new and emerging threats as well.
- Make cybersecurity part of the company culture. Who said that cybersecurity is just an IT issue? Trust us, it’s a topic that involves the entire company. To that end, Business News Daily’s Nicole Fallon advises that businesses – particularly those on the smaller side – create a “culture of cybersecurity,” one in which cybersecurity becomes general employee knowledge.”Make sure employees understand the importance of cybersecurity in protecting their customers, colleagues, intellectual property and valuable business relationships,” said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cybersecurity Alliance. “Have policies and practices in place about Internet security practices in the workplace.”
- Stay up-to-date. Any type of practice is bound to evolve as it develops, but for hacking, that evolution is taking place at a significantly accelerated pace. As cybersecurity experts and governments deploy methods of suppressing cybercrime, those criminals identify new strategies and become more sophisticated. For this reason, IT staffers must realize that in the realm of cybersecurity, the learning never stops. Just as threats become more refined, so too should your company’s approach to defending against them – or else you risk becoming vulnerable.
Oh, and should anything happen to your business, Deep Freeze is here to help – provided you’ve pursued a Faronics solution.
