How To Improve Your Cybersecurity In 2023
2023 is now just around the corner, and the beginning of a new year is a chance for business owners to make positive changes to the company. One area that businesses of all sizes and in all industries need to think about in 2023 is cybersecurity, as cybercrime is fast on the rise and a major cause for concern.
Cyber attacks can harm a business in a number of different ways, including downtime, loss or theft of data, the cost of replacing damaged IT equipment, and reputation damage (which can be hard to recover from). Therefore, business owners should be looking to upgrade their cybersecurity practices in 2023, and there are many ways that this can be done.
Best Ways to Improve Cybersecurity in 2023
Consult Cybersecurity Experts
Although there are steps you may take to stop cyberattacks, they might not be sufficient. Consultation with cybersecurity experts would be the most effective, but also a more expensive approach to take. Experts have vast knowledge in this area and are aware of the best route to take based on the nature of your company. Some of the services they offer are internal and external pen testing, application pen testing, continuous offensive security, hybrid app assessment, etc.
Establish Password Policies
First, you should have rules in place surrounding the passwords that your employees use. Without rules in place, people are likely to choose predictable or easy-to-work-out passwords and use the same password for multiple accounts, and this can put your system and data at risk. Hackers, more often than not, simply work out passwords instead of using advanced tactics, so you need to ensure that passwords are random, complex, and changed on a regular basis by establishing robust password policies.
Add Multi-Factor Authentication
Following this, you should also add multi-factor authentication to all accounts. This adds another layer of defense where the user will have to prove their identity to gain access, such as entering a passcode that is sent to a linked phone number or email address. This can prevent access if a hacker guesses or works out a password and is a highly effective way to avoid attacks.
Don’t Delay Updates
It is very easy to ignore software updates when they become available. Once you have delayed it once, it then becomes very easy to do the same every day until a significant amount of time has passed. This is actually putting your business at risk because software updates often include security upgrades that will protect against the latest threats. In a time when new threats are constantly being developed, you need to ensure that you have the latest version of all software to protect your data and system.
Use Cloud Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Tools
Cloud attacks are on the rise, with as many as 79% of companies experiencing a least one attack in the last 18 months. Cloud attacks are a serious cause for concern as they often result in data loss and even theft, which can be extremely damaging to a company’s reputation, safety, and the safety of its customers whose details may have been stolen or lost.
Data loss prevention tools are the best way to prevent data loss in the cloud and can help you to develop a strong cybersecurity defense. Cloud DLP tools can protect data in all states and detect security threats, which can prevent attacks from becoming successful. Before determining the right data loss prevention applications to protect your business against the latest threats, it’s also wise to learn the best features to look for in DLP tools in order to see greater protection and ensure business continuity, among other benefits.
Provide Training To Staff
Often, cyber attacks are successful not due to advanced tactics or a lack of cybersecurity products but instead due to human error. In particular, social engineering attacks are on the rise and are becoming increasingly harder to detect. This is why one of the best ways to improve your cybersecurity and protect your business in the new year is to provide cybersecurity training for your team.
You should teach them how to carry out their roles safely, especially if working remotely, as well as how to detect and report a cybersecurity issue. This should help protect your business and give you and your team peace of mind and confidence to carry out work each day.
Secure Home Wi-Fi
Leading on from this, if you have employees who are working from home, then you need to be aware that this can be a vulnerability. You need to ensure that employees secure their home Wi-Fi by creating a random and complex password and limiting access to those they trust.
Every business owner should be looking to improve their cybersecurity in 2023, as attacks are increasing in frequency and businesses of all sizes and industries are being targeted. The above are a few of the most effective methods to introduce in the new year that will bolster your defense and hopefully prevent you from suffering a successful cyber attack. Stepping up your protection should also give you peace of mind and confidence to carry out your job each day, knowing that you have a high level of security in place.
