Keeping on top of cyberattacks in this current digital age requires businesses to regularly evolve and keep their security practices up to date. Cyberattacks were listed as one of the biggest threats to the UK in the 2023 risk register, with 97 people every hour falling victim to cyberattacks. While security experts stress the importance of security solutions such as strong passwords and up-to-date software, it’s always important to go a step further and take a more holistic approach to cybersecurity. 

Implementing holistic cybersecurity practices allows for businesses and their customers to not have to worry about security which in turn builds more trust and creates greater efficiencies across the board. Fortifying cybersecurity measures requires a real team effort from all levels of the business; employees must feel empowered to apply cybersecurity initiatives to their everyday work. 

As businesses look for ways to revamp their cybersecurity efforts, here are three things organisations can do to ensure they are working in a fully secure environment. 

Address the evolving security needs of SMBs

Small business owners often find themselves particularly susceptible to security and privacy threats due to their limited resources, which often translates into inadequate cybersecurity measures compared with their much larger counterparts. Even if resources are limited, business owners can safeguard against security pitfalls by implementing well-defined security procedures in collaboration with their employees – making it everybody’s responsibility.

By adopting a shared responsibility model, smaller businesses can better scrutinise cybersecurity objectives and practices which help to better assess and combat against evolving cyber threats. Active awareness and accountability begin with clearly defined roles and responsibilities. Further to this, SMBs should choose a hosting platform that provides round-the-clock cybersecurity support to quickly bring security threats under control. Without this support, SMBs will struggle to identify threats and will be slow to act in thwarting them.

Develop a transparency model

Every business should make transparency and communication a core value as this is vital in earning customers’ trust should any kind of incident or breach occur.  

For genuine trust to exist, customers must be able to understand company security processes and have insight into how the business handles their data and personal information. By providing this kind of information, businesses can greatly empower customers to apply their own cybersecurity methods to their daily lives, saving them and businesses from potential future breaches.  

It’s imperative to include security and trust as driving principles from the get-go. This approach encompasses all customers, investors, regulators and employees. Policies and initiatives, like security awareness training and ongoing compliance with industry regulations, can go a long way in strengthening security measures beyond data protection and incident response.

Stay vigilant

With the rise of remote and hybrid working practices, it’s vital that businesses stay ahead of their security and privacy. Outdated technology still remains a huge issue for businesses as undertaking large website enhancement procedures opens the doors for human error and cyberattacks.

Businesses need to recognise the importance of implementing technology that is capable of automatically detecting updates and executing secure backups. This will eliminate the need for manual maintenance and will allow teams to focus on other critical areas of the business.

Furthermore, organisations can deploy AI-powered solutions to handle laborious tasks such as analysing data for anomalies, swiftly detecting malware and flagging abnormalities for cybersecurity teams to address. AI-powered technology helps to streamline and automate time-consuming processes which can further enhance the team’s overall efficiency.

Over the past year, we have seen cybercriminals become more advanced in their tactics and attacks have grown in sophistication, putting businesses under pressure to act quickly and effectively. Going into 2024, all organisations must place cybersecurity measures at the heart of their business as this will be key to supporting business growth and success for the future.

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