History tells us that even the businesses that consider themselves the most secure can be a target by cybercrime. In other words, many believe they’re untouchable. So, should you consider a cyber security risk assessment? Are you really as secure as you think you are? Sometimes businesses don’t think they’ve anything valuable the criminals may want. But they’re wrong.
In the face of bad news, we can look back and realise what we once thought, “it won’t happen to me.” Therefore, every business needs to take cybersecurity seriously as their top priority. Having false confidence is risky. Here are the top 7 reasons why you need to think about getting an annual cyber security risk assessment.
What is a Cyber Security Risk Assessment?
Just, what we mean by cybersecurity assessment. Firstly, it’s like a wellness check- up that you take yearly to ensure your cyber security health is in tip top shape. It’s purpose is to diagnose any potential risk before anything bad happens.
So, the assessment aims to detect any network, system, software, device, physical, and other vulnerabilities. Once done these assessment findings help your business plan what it will do in answer any of the risks.
The detail and scope of a cybersecurity assessment depends on the size of your business, the industry, timeline and of course budget.
Do you need to consider doing a cybersecurity assessment sooner rather than later?
You’ve got a bad feeling that something isn’t right
Your intuition is telling you something doesn’t feel right. Or perhaps something suspicious is going on, that makes you question your cybersecurity. It could be because
- Finding strange files on your network
- Your computers behaving oddly
- Competitors knowing information about your company that isn’t yet public knowledge
2. Regulatory compliance requirements
The type of industry your business is involved in may have certain regulatory requirements. For example, the financial, healthcare, energy, and educational settings all have many rules about testing for cyber exposure. Firstly, it starts with compliance and asking, what are the rules for your own industry? Secondly, a need to do a comprehensive cyber risk assessment. And lastly, based on the results of your assessment Rock IT will make recommendations, to help your business maintain compliance.
3. Your staff isn’t tech-savvy
Human error is one of the biggest ways cybersecurity threats occur. In other words, if your staff opens the door to a threat, the time and investment you’ve spent in locking down your “virtual house” won’t help you.
Meanwhile employees aren’t malicious, they just need some training, to curb their bad habits. For instance, some employees don’t see a problem with having a passcode such as “123456” or “password”. While others have the same password for all their accounts. And many are more naïve, believing a Nigerian millionaire wants to send them lots and lots of cash!
However even those with great security awareness can fall victim to scams because we’re all busy. And we don’t stop to double check. For instance, a fake invoice can come in with the scammers banking details on them and they look like our supplier’s invoice. Before you know it, thousands have gone out of your business account.
4. Angry Former Employees
Maybe you haven’t a clear process when it comes to technology if someone is fired or leaves your company? Needless to say, not everything leaves on good terms. So having a clear process to change access and/or passwords for the ex-employee is vital to securing your systems and networks.
It is as foolish to unnecessarily expose yourself to the mercy of former staff with continued access to your cloud-based platform.
5. Old Technology
Often due to budget or a fear of new technology, we continue using the old rather than investing in new tools. But having up to date technology, can minimise your exposure too.
That’s to say, once software gets old, the provider stops supporting that hardware. Therefore, exposing you to cyber risk. For example, Microsoft has stopped the security patches and updates for Windows 7.
Most importantly, don’t keep using the old technology thinking nothing has happened so far. The gaps created due to no security patch is an opening the criminals can one day slip through.
6. No data control policies in place
Technology entry points that leave you exposed are always growing. Making it hard to control. For instance
a) Floating around your office could be USB drives holding essential data.
b) Company laptops can be misplaced or stolen.
c) Remote employees may sign on to unprotected WiFi networks and portable devices aren’t properly encrypted
It’s difficult to determine your vulnerabilities, without proper policies in place to control data.
Your employees use their own devices.
Does the idea of an employee using their own device make you happy? Of course, this approach can save you money. However, it doesn’t come without its drawbacks to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environment.
- Employee devices maybe old and not the latest available technology This makes them more susceptible to cyber-attack especially if the supplier no longer offers patching.
- First and foremost, this is the employee’s device meaning they could download malicious software or apps without knowing that enable cybercriminals access to your business systems.
- You have no control of who uses the employee’s device. Many people could have access to the laptop which allows their partner or children access to your business.
- Disgruntled employees past or present can use their own devices to cause damage your network.
Don’t Ignore the Signs!
A cybersecurity assessment is like a physical, it’s a wellness check- up. If you were concerned about your own health and saw signs, you would surely book in a visit to the doctors. Or maybe you put those doctor’s visits off too! Don’t leave it until it’s too late. So, my advice is if any of these 7 signs are happening in your business, it’s time to perform a cybersecurity assessment.
We only need to turn on the news to discover how data breaches cause serious damage for business. If a cyber breach occurs you can lose access to your networks for hours, and sometimes days. And every minute costs you
- Productivity decline
- Lost revenues and possible fines
- Customer churn
- Damage to brand reputation.
Cyber Security Risk Assessment Options
Rock IT Offers
Risk Assessment – Our first step in understanding your security needs is to perform a Cyber Risk Assessment. After that we follow the NIST guidelines. And collaborate the information from our interviews, documentation analysis, and do a walkthrough of physical areas for our risk experts to report on the needs or successes of your security program.
Gap Analysis – it is critical when you need to identify any deficiencies in your security to do a gap analysis. To clarify, this is where our experts identify any gaps in your security to comply with the industry regulations. And recommend the minimum necessary adjustments in- order to comply.
Mobile Risk Assessments – Presenting itself a challenge for both security professionals and businesses alike, are mobile devices. Rock IT considers every avenue in which a risk may come up and provide our recommendations to remedy these risks.
In conclusion, no business should go without doing a cyber security assessment especially if they recognise some of the signs and symptoms. A cyber security assessment gives you a clear picture of your business’s risk exposure. So, don’t put off a cyber security assessment any longer, get yourself a business health check today.
Working with Rock IT, we’ll help you improve your cyber security health long-term.
