When it comes to the importance of cyber security in your organization, the numbers speak for themselves: there’s a cyber-attack every 39 seconds, and nearly 60% of companies have been the victim of one. What’s more, the average cost of a data breach in 2020 will exceed $150 million.
The paramount need for businesses to safeguard their most valuable data is only becoming clearer. Ensure that your information is secure in 2020 by implementing these four essential cyber security best practices.
1. Developing a cyber security awareness program
90% of data breaches are due to human error. Teaching employees the basics of “good hygiene,” AKA how to safely navigate the internet and avoid cyber-risk, is critical to the success of any cyber security initiative. Beyond that, educating your team about the detrimental impact that an attack could have can be a powerful motivator to keep safe online conduct top-of-mind. Train staff on all internal policies, as well as how to recognize and avoid common types of cyber-attacks, like email phishing, malware, and ransomware. By providing a basic understanding of what to be on the lookout for, you could be avoiding countless cyber issues (and saving millions.)
2. Requiring multi-factor authentication
Despite thorough cyber awareness training, employees are still bound to make mistakes that put your most sensitive information at risk. Further insulate your data by applying multi-factor authentication across any internet-facing assets. Unlike traditional credentials that are commonly compromised, this extra layer of protection requires users to identify themselves with two or three “factors” that are completely unique to them. These characteristics are usually:
- Something they know, like a password
- Something they have, like a one time code sent to their phone
- Something they are, like a fingerprint or retina scan
3. Managing privileged access
Further prevent human error-related breaches by performing vigilant privileged access management (PAM). 74% of data breaches can be attributed to privileged credential abuse, a figure that would be drastically lower if the organizations had adopted a PAM strategy to monitor their systems. Put simply, the more highly-ranked an employee is, the more permissions they’re granted in your system – and the more likely they are to be targeted by a hacker. Strategic cyber-criminals will familiarize themselves with the pecking order at your company and focus their attacks on key players who are most likely to have access to valuable and confidential information.
Combat this tactic by proactively managing user privilege and ensuring that employees are only given permissions for information that is critical to their job function. Provide everyone in your organization with random, unique passwords, and require workers with greater privilege to frequently change them. Further limit exposure by separating privilege across multiple users and accounts – this helps to contain intruders and restrict any lateral movement.
4. Mitigating the risk of ransomware infection
For decades, ransomware has been a buzzword in the cyber community; a concept that existed, but rarely posed a legitimate threat – until now. In the past two years, ransomware attacks have increased over 97% and, while still far from the most common type of malware, this recent resurgence is cause for action. Consistently back up all files, both locally and in the cloud. While a backup is unable to prevent an attack, it can substantially mitigate the damages should you fall victim to one. Additionally, regularly update your programs and operating system. File-encrypting malware take advantage of vulnerabilities to get into your networks – patching and keeping OS updated can protect from these exploitations.
In today’s competitive hiring landscape, finding cybersecurity talent is more challenging, and crucial, than ever. Instead of wasting money on fruitless recruiting efforts, invest in leveraging your internal talent and developing their skills.
Download our Upskilling eBook to learn how to develop cyber security talent in your organization, and solve your hiring problems, now.
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