Executive Decision: It’s Time To Get Cyber Resilient

In a week the White House announced a comprehensive warning for organisations to galvanise cyber security measures, we look at some of the top ways to become more resilient.

In a wide-ranging fact sheet, President Biden encouraged firms to implement:

Multi-factor authentication to make unauthorised access more difficult
Deploy endpoint protection to limit the risk of device breaches
Ensure patch updates are carried out and passwords changed frequently
Back up data with cloud and offsite copies
Test disaster recovery plans
Encrypt data thus making it void if it is stolen
Re-train staff on email phishing tactics and other common hacking techniques

How can SMBs get up to speed quickly?

This may seem like a daunting list for SMBs to implement. While it may not be possible to put everything in place immediately, business data should be considered an asset that needs to be protected.

Another important aspect of building a fit-for-purpose cyber security strategy is to bake it in, not bolt solutions in as an afterthought. With enterprise-grade tools becoming more readily available at SMB price points, there is every opportunity to do this in a cost effective way.

Ransomware attacks are often linked with the concept of data loss, but the reality is that they can go much further, making it impossible for a business to even operate. The short-term revenue impact, not to mention the longer-term reputational damage can make a cyber attack difficult to overcome for many SMBs.

Building resilience

Solid cyber security is vital for modern businesses, and although the White House communication should be a warning, good security practice shouldn’t happen just because someone tells you to.

With a well-designed, enterprise-grade cyber security strategy, SMBs can continue working safe in the knowledge that an attack is likely to be thwarted should it come. In the event that breach did occur, with robust disaster recovery plan, business can continue almost uninterrupted.

Backups are an essential part of this, and with social engineering on the rise, keeping online and offline copies of critical data is a fundamental component of every cyber security plan.

Being realistic

For IDC, it is understandably unlikely that SMBs will be able to implement every measure on this list right away due to budgetary and resourcing issues.
Start by identifying your main vulnerabilities, assessing weak spots, and getting a robust backup strategy in place.