What cyber security services do we need for comprehensive protection?
Unfortunately, cyber security isn’t something you can just ‘set and forget’. Some businesses buy a suite of cyber security services and products and assume they’re protected indefinitely, but that’s not a comprehensive or realistic strategy.
There are three broad stages to a cyber security strategy:
- Assessing your vulnerabilities
- Assessing the threat landscape
- Choosing your cyber protection
That’s not just a one-off process though — it’s ongoing.
Here’s what is involved in each step, and how you can make sure you always have the cyber security you need.
How to assess your cyber security vulnerabilities
Start with the most common sources of cyber attacks.
88% of data breaches are caused by human error, so for many businesses, the biggest weakness is their people.
Ask yourself honestly if your employees and colleagues have the understanding and training that they need to prevent an attack from getting through. For example, 90% of ransomware attacks start with an email phishing attempt. A phishing email can’t affect your business if nobody falls for it, but the statistics demonstrate that people fall for it quite a lot. It just takes one person to click a link for ransomware to get into the system.
TIP: If you’re not sure how aware your team are of cyber threats, you can find out. Some businesses send pretend phishing emails to their team to test if anyone clicks links or follows the email’s instructions. It’s not about singling anyone out or embarrassing people — it’s about demonstrating how easy things are to fall for and illustrating how real the threat is.
Other common cyber security vulnerabilities to look for include:
- Remote working on unsecured Wi-Fi networks
- Poor password discipline (e.g. 12345, Liverpool20, P@ssw0rd, etc.)
- Outdated software — older versions can contain known weaknesses to exploit
After making your initial assessment, you’ll need to ask the same questions and test your security on an ongoing basis. Your business will change, as will the threats. You need to adapt to stay safe.
How to assess the cyber security landscape
You can’t defend against threats that you don’t know.
You can research the latest cyber security trends online for a headline view of new and emerging threats. That will help you orient yourself and understand the most pressing areas for your strategy and defence. If you have a tech, data, or cyber security background, you will likely have a network of peers you can discuss the threats with, and possibly a go-to list of publications to consult.
If you don’t have a background in cyber security, the easiest way to understand the cyber security landscape is to engage a team of cyber security consultants. Because they spend every day assessing threats and helping businesses defeat them, they will have the most thorough and current view, and they can offer very practical advice.
How to choose cyber security services for your strategy
When you reinforce or create your security strategy, your approach can fall anywhere between choosing and implementing everything yourself, and outsourcing the whole process to a cyber security consultant. It’s your choice, and it depends on your confidence and your capacity to handle the assessment, transition, and administration.
If you choose to handle everything yourself, then after analysing the threats and your weaknesses, you will need to research the solutions. If you have a detailed picture of the areas you need to strengthen, it should be relatively easy to find programmes and cyber security services that answer your specific needs.
However, you also need to match your different solutions well, and ensure they complement each other, or you may find there are gaps in your protection. For example, comprehensive cyber security will include:
- Preventative training against human error
- Email security to stop threats that might cause human error
- A managed firewall to lock down threats that might get in
- Endpoint security to protect your systems if anything gets through
- A cyber security strategy to monitor emerging threats and update all of the above
The main advantage of managed cyber security services is that you can hand responsibility over to an expert — for example, Arc Systems. You don’t need to drive the strategy or spend time making assessments of your weaknesses and emerging threats — your cyber security provider will do that for you. That includes the ongoing attention and proactive support that your strategy requires.
Cyber security is never ‘set and forget’, but you can hand the responsibility to someone else, get the support you need, and enjoy the confidence that your business has up-to-date, tailored protection.
For an overview of the different elements that contribute to an effective cyber security plan, read more at arcsystems.co.uk/security.