Tag: cyber security

As so many of our business transactions and operations are now taking place on the internet, businesses today are becoming more digitized and connected than ever. But digitization also comes with the increased threat from bad actors as it exposes businesses and their vulnerabilities to viruses and internet criminals. 

As a result, it is vital that business owners start to use cybersecurity services – a combination of human expertise and cutting edge technology – to protect their company from cyber attacks. Here are some of the many benefits of hiring a cybersecurity service for your business.

1. Prevent Cyber Threats

After the transition from paper documents to computer files, businesses have had to face a host of new security challenges. An effective cybersecurity service will be able to predict certain cyber threats thanks to its insight or intelligence about your business’s unique challenges. The experts at perthsecurityservices.com.au explain that these challenges may be digital documents that are attractive to cyber criminals such as personally identifiable information or intellectual properties. A good cybersecurity service will allow businesses to foresee issues and separate networks that house sensitive data from those that house non-sensitive data so that in case an attack occurs on the non-sensitive data network, the critical network won’t be affected.

2. Block Cyber Criminals

With an effective cybersecurity service, you will be able to block cyber threats from ever getting through to your IT systems. As most businesses have now moved from snail mail to emails, cybercriminals can take advantage of these businesses’ emails to conduct fraud. They use spoof emails from CEOs to trick finance personnel worldwide to release their corporate funds to scammers. They commonly use a slight variation of the legitimate email addresses of businesses to fool the recipient into believing that the email is authentic. A good cybersecurity service can create an email filtering system, which will prevent this form of attack by blocking emails with similar extensions to a genuine company’s email.

3. Detect and Respond to Attacks

As cybercriminals are getting more creative each day, predictive and blocking measures are no longer enough. No matter how strong your company’s security systems are, there is always a chance that an anomaly can happen, which will allow attackers to gain access to your system. The bad news is that most businesses only find out about these intrusions after being informed by law enforcement or through a common point of purchase. An effective cybersecurity service can detect these activities by monitoring network traffic and correlating it with configuration data.

4. Save Money for Your Business

An effective cybersecurity service can save businesses an enormous amount of money through losses related to the costs of cyber theft, as well as those of hiring a law firm or offering victims identity protection services. Moreover, post-attack, businesses may have to pay for more services, such as investigative activities, audit services, and crisis team management, as well as reimbursing customers and clients or paying compensation for the loss of personal data.

5. Access to Cutting-Edge Tools and Top Security Talent

Hiring a cybersecurity service gives your business access to cutting edge tools and top security talent that come in 3 types of managed cybersecurity services: traditional, cloud solution, and outsourced. While traditional services (also referred to as on-premise services) require in-house manpower and capitalization to run cutting-edge software and hardware tools, cloud solution cybersecurity can provide the service without the need for additional hardware thanks to its cloud-based console and tools. A lot of businesses also choose to have an outsource cybersecurity model, in which they work with an external third-party provider to take care of everything. 

Each of the three options comes with its own benefits and budget requirements. The cost of traditional or on-premise cybersecurity services isn’t limited to trained and skilled in-house staff, but also to the growing IT infrastructure. The number of new devices needed each year that need to be secured, for example, is a major challenge for businesses. A cloud-based security service, however, allows you to remotely manage from multiple endpoints, on any device. In the case of outsourced or third-party cybersecurity, your business can gain access to the best security talent with greater scalability and continuity without having to have a team in house.

In a world where all business activities are connected and most transactions are made digitally, having a good cybersecurity service can ensure that your organization’s data and daily operations are safe from a cyber attack. Hiring a cybersecurity service alleviates the pressure on your organization, helps your operations to proceed smoothly, and can save you a lot of money in the long run. Remember, that preventing an attack is always a lot easier than it is to repair the damage after the fact.

With a lot of businesses shifting to a larger online presence, the threat of cybercrimes looms. The internet has been around for quite some time now and even though there are different entities out there that are responsible for keeping the web as safe and crime-free as possible, there are still people bent on committing various crimes through different means to gain money, blackmail people, or simply have fun at the expense of other people’s panic and misery. You can avoid all of these issues by being aware of the cybersecurity measures that you and your employees can take. Here’s why cybersecurity awareness training should be your number one priority.

1- Cybercrime Is Continuously Advancing

Cybercrime has quite serious consequences, which is why cybersecurity awareness has become a more important topic. Every day, cybercriminals find new ways to cause issues for businesses and regular individuals who are trying to peacefully browse the web. These different crimes can affect you, your employees, and your business if the right precautions are not taken. This is what you need to look out for.

a) Hacking

You have probably already heard stories about hacking. People often think that it is something that they will never experience since they have strong passwords, but unfortunately, this is not the case and advanced hacking can still occur. Most people are not aware of the threat of hacking and its consequences. If you’re running a business and store sensitive information on your cloud, it’s advisable to use programs that can generate difficult passwords that are challenging to hack, even with the most advanced programs. Another tip you can use is not keeping all your passwords in one place. This ensures that even if one of your various accounts or email addresses gets hacked, you do not have to worry about all of your other accounts being at risk.

b) Phishing

Phishing is the most used scheme when it comes to cybercrime. No matter how much banking websites try to prevent their clients from falling into this trap, it is still very common. Phishing is done by tricking the recipient into clicking a link, usually by sending it in an email or text message, masquerading as a trusted entity such as your bank or cellphone provider. Being aware of how to avoid such a scheme is one of the key pieces of information one learns when finding out about cybersecurity. There are various ways to identify a trusted website from an unsafe link that could lead to your information being stolen. When your employees know exactly how to protect themselves from this frustrating experience, their morale is going to improve since they will be able to deal with such scams.

c) Identity Theft

Identity theft is used by people looking to steal your money or people who want you and your company to lose their reputation by acting online in ways that make your clients lose their respect and trust in your business. Sometimes, this is done through creating an account on a website, especially social networking platforms, with the same name as your business or your personal account and posting inappropriate things. Other identity theft cases can be more severe when a person could steal personal information and commit crimes as though they are you.

2- Protecting Sensitive Data

If you are in a competitive field, you need to ensure that you are protecting your date from being stolen by competitors or people who will sell the information to the highest bidder. To protect such data, you need to be aware of the process of finding security blind spots and how to deal with them. The most straightforward way to do this is to educate your employees on how to protect your company’s data from cybersecurity threats through courses and to create a BYOD policy. This ensures that data, such as new designs are safe from any wandering cybercriminals.

3- Avoiding Malware and Spyware

Malware is a software program that a person develops to make certain applications and programs on your device malfunction. It slows down your processor exponentially and is often downloaded as a hidden attachment when downloading anything from an unreliable online source. Spyware is also a software program that is downloaded similarly, but instead of causing malfunctions, it is used by others to spy on you remotely. This helps them find sensitive information to steal and allows them to take compromising screenshots or video-feeds through your device’s camera. Cybersecurity awareness allows you to avoid such situations by giving you the information needed to ensure that you are using reliable websites and have proper spyware and malware protection on your devices.

4- Reduced Risk of Data Corruption

Criminals might not want the information you have on your device to use it against you; they might simply want to corrupt the information you have to derail your business’s progress. Protecting your files from corruption is not hard if you do have the proper security set-up to protect all the data you have on personal or work devices.

5- Ensuring Client Confidentiality

Clients are bound to give you different personal information about themselves that you need to protect. Sometimes, you will be given payment information, which requires a high level of protection, otherwise, your business may face lawsuits that compromise its reputation and cost you money. Moreover, you will find that clients are losing their trust in you if you aren’t capable of keeping their data safe. Making sure that your employees are aware of cybersecurity measures will also allow you to detect breaches and fix them before such an event occurs. It is important to keep in mind that even the tiniest chink in your defense against cybercrime can lead to monetary and reputational damages you will not be able to afford.

Whether you use your personal devices for website browsing or you have a company to run and are responsible for protecting sensitive information, being aware of how to remain secure while browsing the internet is crucial. These are just five of the reasons why cybersecurity awareness is a definite requirement when browsing the internet. Remember that failing to protect yourself and your customers from cyber threats is a liability that could cause you a lot of issues, so it is better to be safe than sorry.