For businesses in the UK which operate digitally in some respect, cybersecurity is now a non-negotiable aspect of operating a company. According to government figures, some 98 per cent of businesses and charities in the country have an online presence of some sort, underlining just how important cybersecurity has now become.
Which businesses need to worry about cybersecurity?
Quite simply, if you operate on the internet, you need to think about cybersecurity. That could be anything from running a website to using social media and having company email accounts. The threat is very real. Government figures show that as many as 43 per cent of businesses and charities experienced some kind of cyber breach or attack over the last 12 months. The fact that on many occasions these businesses held personal data of some sort makes the issue all the more serious.
From corporates to SMEs
If you thought that cybersecurity was just a consideration for the high profile companies which employ hundreds or thousands of people – think again. SMEs are also being targeted, meaning that every PC, laptop or tablet which you use needs to be safeguarded against breaches. That’s because the consequences of a cyber attack which compromises your digital security are worth avoiding – they can range from one of your devices being incapacitated for a few days, costing you time and money, to the reputation of your business with customers being damaged, perhaps irreparably.
Getting the basics right
If you can’t see security symbols each time you use your PC, laptop, tablet or smartphone, this might be an indication that you do not have adequate protection against cybersecurity attacks. Among the cybersecurity basics which you should be ticking off are strong passwords which offer resistance to some of the password guessing tools which can be employed by hackers. Aim to incorporate three random words in your password, along with capital letters and special characters. Also, ensure that all of your software is up to date with all the latest security updates. If your security software is not up to date, you could be risking leaving gaps for cybercriminals to target.
Backing up your data is another important habit which it can be important to develop. This can act as a safety net should the unwanted scenario of a cyber attack occur. This can be done automatically in many cases – ask your IT support provider for help with backing up data.
Take the next steps?
Ensuring you have the necessary knowledge to protect your business from cybercrime is essential. Whether you develop this knowledge in-house or rely on the expertise of your IT support or Cloud Services provider is up to you. If you do choose to educate yourself on all things cybersecurity, you should know that the National Cyber Security Centre’s Small Business Guide is a fantastic resource which can be a great help to businesses which wish to tighten up their online security. You can access this guide here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/smallbusiness
The sooner we start to see cybersecurity as a business essential, the quicker we can begin to slash the number of cybersecurity breaches.
Traditional AV is no longer effective at stopping today’s cyberattacks.
In fact, to prevent security breaches in your organisation, you must protect yourself not only from known and unknown threats but also from the failures of any traditional AV solutions deployed in your environment.
It’s time to replace your traditional antivirus solution with a real breach prevention tool.
Traps uses multiple methods of prevention. Traps checks everything that is run on an endpoint against a whitelist in the cloud called Wildfire. When Traps encounters code it hasn’t seen it detonates that code in Palo Alto Network’s cloud and either denies if it is deemed a threat or adds it to the whitelist going forward. That whitelist is shared with all Traps customers amounting to a huge repository used by all Traps installations.
Consilium are the only managed service provider of Traps in the UK. Palo Alto is a leading enterprise provider of security solutions and a recognised Gartner Leader for the last five years consecutively. They are at the absolute cutting edge of endpoint protection.
Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business.
