No Time to Read?
Give our specialists a call: they can help cut through the jargon & find the best solutions for you. Click the phone number below to tell us what you need – we’ll do the rest.
5 Signs You’re Not Cyber Secure
Posted by Jamie Sutherland
Every day in the UK, there are roughly 65,000 attempts to hack SME's, with nearly 4,000 attempts being successful. For every successful hack, businesses risk compromising confidential data, incurring financial losses, and damaging their public reputation.
Whilst this shows the importance in having effective, up-to-date cyber security, it can be particularly challenging for business owners to identify what protocols they have in place, and whether these are sufficient to safeguard the organisation from breaches.
Not to worry – in this article we showcase 5 universal signs that your business may not be cyber secure, helping you determine whether you need to seek additional support:
1. Your Business Is Not Cyber Essentials Certified
Protecting your data and the data of others is crucial in gaining customer trust. The Cyber Essentials Certification is a government-backed scheme ensuring organisations are protected against online threats such as hacking, phishing and password guessing. The scheme also helps protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data stored for organisations.
To gain the Cyber Essentials Certifications, you must work towards meeting a variety of requirements, such as securing your devices through the implementation of malware protection measures such as Whitelisting or Sandboxing.
At Netmatters, we support businesses who are looking to become Cyber Essentials Certified by conducting reviews, creating a roadmap, and then implementing the necessary works, allowing you to focus on running your business.
2. Outdated Cyber Security
Like other digital assets, your cyber security procedures may not have been reviewed recently and you may be using outdated software or anti-virus protection that is leaving your business exposed to attacks.
If your cyber security processes have been in place for a long time without a review, then choosing to have a cyber security assessment will be beneficial in building a plan of action to make sure you are as protected as possible.
At Netmatters, we provide in-depth Cyber Security Assessments to help give businesses the information they need to make informed decisions about their cyber security. For example, we completed a thorough assessment for Theatre Royal Norwich which identified a number of key weak points in their infrastructure. This allowed us to create a tailored plan which we worked through to dramatically increase their security, without needing them to lift a finger.
3. Staff Haven’t Had Basic Training
Not only does the business have to be Cyber Secure, but its staff members need to have a reasonable level of understanding of what Cyber Security is, the threats attached to not being cyber secure, and what employees should do if they encounter a threat.
Business cyber resilience can be improved if employees are trained to recognise cyber-attacks and learn the best response practise. For example, Symantec found that 71% of all targeted attacks started with phishing scams, whereby a staff member unwittingly clicked on a malicious link delivered via email. By making employees more aware of cyber-attacks such as phishing scams, businesses significantly reduce their exposure to potential cyber breaches.
At Netmatters, our cyber experts can offer effective consultancy services to support the implementation of training schemes and protocols – helping your staff understand what the threats are, and how they should react.
4. You Only Have Break Fix Support
Break Fix support is where a problem is taken care of only when it arises. If you have adopted a Break Fix support practice whereby you are only getting in front of cyber security issues when they arise, you run the risk of exposing your business and customers’ information to massive vulnerabilities which could be incredibly costly to resolve.
Pre-emptively employing Cyber Security Management is key to staying one step ahead of the potential risks posed by cybercriminals and hackers. It is crucial that steps are taken to prevent accident or injury to your property.
Setting up a Cyber Security Management process means that your systems are looked after and you no longer have to worry about the day-to-day operations of your cyber security.
At Netmatters, we have an expert team who effectively protect your business against cybercriminals and hackers and are able to provide you with ongoing support with your cyber security.
5. You Don’t Have Cyber Insurance
Cyber insurance can be a useful safeguard to minimising costs in the event of a cyber-attack, cyber insurance can also help with any legal actions that are required after the incident.
You may think that just having the insurance is enough but it is essential that you take reasonable steps to prevent attacks or you won’t actually be covered. Having a Cyber Security policy in place within your organisation which includes Cyber Essentials Certification, regularly reviewed Cyber Security Assessments, regular staff training sessions and pre-emptive Cyber Security Management would help safeguard any policies and ensure you’re compliant with that pesky small print!
Looking To Invest in Your Cyber Security?
Whether you are looking for a Cyber Essentials Certification, a Cyber Security Assessment or you are looking for a Cyber Security partner, Netmatters are certified specialists in Cyber Security and business continuity. Book an appointment to start your Cyber Security project today with one of our experts in either Norwich, Great Yarmouth or Cambridge
