Improve Your San Jose Companies Cybersecurity Now With The Help Of V & C Solutions
The National Cybersecurity Awareness Month – observed every October – was created as a collaborative effort between government and industry to help organizations bolster their cybersecurity posture. Cybersecurity Awareness Month is especially crucial this year as we’ve seen cyber-attacks becoming more sophisticated and more destructive across all industry sectors. According to a recent Cost of a Data Breach Report by the Ponemon Institute and IBM, data breach costs rose from $3.86 million to $4.24 million, the highest average total cost in the 17-year history of this report.
Each year has a different theme, although the overall aim is the same – to empower individuals and the organizations they work for to improve cybersecurity and make it harder for hackers and scammers to succeed. The theme for 2021 is ‘Do Your Part. #BeCyberSmart,’ helping to empower organizations to own their role in protecting their part of cyberspace. The month is focused on improving education about cybersecurity best practices, raising awareness of the digital threats to privacy, encouraging organizations and individuals to put more robust safeguards in place to protect sensitive data, and highlighting the importance of security awareness training.
Get Cybersecurity Smart Immediately
This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, it’s crucial for all organizations, from SMBs to enterprises, in San Jose and the Bay Area to remember that they may be at risk at any time and build a security strategy to mitigate threats and thwart attackers. Here are a few things you can do to secure your business:
Host a Cybersecurity Training Session
Many cyber security threats, such as advanced malware and even ransomware, can only be countered with sophisticated technology. But, on a day-to-day basis, employees are typically your greatest source of vulnerability. In 2020, compromised credentials were the most common initial attack vector, responsible for 20% of breaches. In fact, 52% of businesses admit that employees are their biggest weakness in IT security, with their careless actions putting business IT security at risk.
Employee behaviors that can leave your organization vulnerable to cyber threats include leaving laptops and mobile devices unattended in vulnerable places, such as public transport and restaurants, and using the organization’s laptop to access public WiFi in unsecured hotspots. Storing sensitive information on the local hard drive instead of the server, using weak, easy-to-guess passwords, or falling for phishing emails can also make your company vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Cybersecurity awareness training is essential in educating employees on the importance of cybersecurity and what to watch out for. Some of the most deadly and common security attacks are social engineering attacks, spear phishing, and ransomware attacks that target employees by email. Make cyber security everyone’s responsibility and ensure all staff members, including management, are involved in the cybersecurity awareness training – top managers are especially vulnerable because they have high access to all confidential data.
Clearly communicate the potential impact of a cyber incident on your business – from financial losses or fines to damaged customer trust. Areas to consider covering include basic password hygiene, the importance of working on a password-protected WiFi network, never sharing credentials with strangers, and not clicking on links or attachments from unknown individuals. Finally, give your staff a clear channel, such as an emergency number, to alert your administrator to any suspicious emails or unusual activity or for reporting a lost device – even if it turns out to be a false alarm. Well-trained employees know the best tactics to prevent, respond to, and recover from an attack.
Get A Cybersecurity Assessment From Igor & Brandon
A cyber security policy identifies the rules and procedures that all individuals accessing and using an organization’s IT assets and resources must follow. The goal of these security policies and procedures is to address security threats and implement strategies to mitigate IT security vulnerabilities and define how to recover when a network intrusion occurs. They also define who gets access to what, provide guidelines to employees on what to do and what not to do, and spells out the consequences for not following the rules.
Outdated cybersecurity policies and procedures can leave your organization at risk of cyber threats, out of compliance with new laws and regulations, create inconsistencies between best practices and current operations, and leave your IT systems and technology vulnerable.
This Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a great time to conduct a detailed assessment of all your cybersecurity policies and procedures to ensure your organization has all the tools necessary to stay ahead of potential threats, minimize risk, and better comply with all laws and regulations.
The first step in assessing your cybersecurity security policies and procedures is identifying your current risks and network vulnerabilities through a vulnerability assessment. A comprehensive vulnerability assessment provides organizations with the knowledge, awareness, and risk background necessary to understand threats to their environment. Remediation measures can then be applied accordingly.
When conducting a review, it’s crucial to ask questions about your organization’s policy and procedures:
- Is the policy outdated?
- Are the procedures hard to follow?
- Have you begun using new technologies or processes that haven’t been written into your procedures?
- Does proper implementation of the policy and procedures require more employee training?
Don’t forget to ask for employee feedback to help figure out what else can be done to ensure that policies and procedures are followed or if any wording needs to be improved. Ensure that the staff is adequately informed of any changes or modifications made to the policy.
Sit Down For A Cybersecurity Consultation With Us
Cyber security is constantly changing, and new threats and vulnerabilities against businesses emerge every day. At V&C Solutions, we know that the best way of protecting a business from cyber threats is a combination of the right tools and practices. That’s why we provide a comprehensive suite of cybersecurity services designed to protect your business from end to end.
- Cybersecurity Training: Our cybersecurity awareness solutions can help transform your employees into your best defense against cyber threats. We believe that cybersecurity training should be ongoing, regular, and keep up with the latest cybersecurity trends and techniques. Our cybersecurity experts will train your employees on the latest sophisticated security threats and infiltration methods, so they can easily spot security threats. We will provide technical solutions and advice on monitoring, reporting, and mitigating potential cyberthreats and which steps to take after a data breach.
- Vulnerability Assessments: Our Vulnerability Assessment services help you identify and address the security vulnerabilities that exist within your company’s infrastructure, including on-premise and cloud networks. We will review your wireless network configurations and patching processes, perform a website scan to identify security gaps and review your antivirus standards to ensure it’s up-to-date.
- Managed Security IT Services: Our Managed Security IT services extend your IT team’s capacity to protect company applications, computing, and network infrastructure with advanced security solutions that are fully managed, easy to implement, and do not require significant upfront investments.
- Cybersecurity Audits: Our Cybersecurity Audit is a comprehensive analysis of your IT systems and infrastructure, exposing vulnerabilities and high-risk practices. We will provide a thorough report detailing the audit findings, which includes recommendations on how to improve your company’s security posture.
- Cybersecurity Consultation: Our expert security consultants will work with you to evaluate your data protection and compliance issues, prioritize corrective measures, and help you understand your full range of options. We’ll work with your team to develop security policies and practices that align with business objectives to advance your operational goals.
From assessing risk, investigating vulnerabilities, testing for external and internal threats, and engineering a hardened IT security environment, V&C Solutions delivers the capabilities you need to achieve a resilient cyber defense posture, regardless of the cyber threats you face. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
