Do you know the risks of cyber-attacks?
We take no pleasure in saying that many businesses have no cyber security policy in place and possess little knowledge of how to secure their systems and data against cyber-attacks. Many of them have heard of business continuity and disaster recovery, yet they think that these only apply to the largest of companies. In fact, every organisation should have effective cyber security in place, as hackers, fraudsters and malware are never picky about who to attack next.
Another key problem is that around 60% of cyber incidents are believed to not be reported, as businesses fear that this will lead to reputational damage, loss of income and penalties. As a result, the volume of cyber-attacks taking place each day is much larger than most people realise, which means that even the smallest businesses, public sector organisations and charities are at risk of malicious online activity.
The complexity of cyber security
So many factors come into play when talking about an organisation’s digital security. In order to remain safe, secure and compliant, multiple cyber security systems should be discussed, such as:
PASSWORD MANAGEMENT
TWO-FACTOR AUTHENTICATION (2FA)
DEVICE MANAGEMENT (INCLUDING LOSS AND THEFT)
WI-FI SECURITY
EMPLOYEE TRAINING
FIREWALLS
ENCRYPTION
DATA BACKUPS
REGULAR SOFTWARE AND SECURITY UPDATES
This involves ensuring that protection is applied to the four core areas of your digital infrastructure:
NETWORK SECURITY
CLOUD SECURITY
APPLICATION SECURITY
INTERNET OF THINGS SECURITY
The aftermath of a cyber-attack
Cyber-attacks can be absolutely brutal and bring an organisation to its knees. Whilst short-term disruption to productivity and workflow are harmful in themselves, the long-term effects can include significant reputational damage, negative press coverage, fines from the ICO for data loss, lack of trust from existing and prospective customers and, ultimately, loss of revenue on a potentially devastating scale.
The most common cause of poor cyber security is when a business owner believes it will never happen to them. Though tempting to think this is the case, there is actually an enormous risk of at least one incident taking place that could lead to disastrous consequences. Without a suitable cyber security strategy that includes employee training as well as secure systems, you’re leaving your business wide open to a variety of online threats.
Incident response, disaster recovery & business continuity
In the event that a business or organisation falls victim to a cyber-attack, knowing what to do next is imperative. This can sometimes occur even if you have off-the-shelf digital security products, as they may not be powerful enough to defend your organisation against every cyber-attack.
Our mission is to provide the highest quality of cyber security consultancy in a professional, friendly and affordable way. This will safeguard your business against cyber threats, although our support doesn’t end there. If you do fall prone to an attack, we can provide an in-depth incident response service to determine what happened and how to get you safely back online.
We understand the importance of business continuity, which is why our cyber security experts are highly experienced in helping clients to recover lost data where possible and resume operations in a faster and smoother way.
Crisis Media
Very often media management in a crisis is only considered after the incident has happened, once the media come knocking on your door to find out what has happened, to spread the news of doom and gloom. At that point, and if not prepared, a misleading comment, or a clumsy press release, or maybe no comment at all will put you and your business in the spotlight, possibly for all the wrong reasons.
We work with an independent crisis media company who will prepare you for the very worst of the situation from writing a press release, to camera media training using real life scenarios through to simulation of the aftermath of a cyber attack. Preparedness, incident response and crisis media are all significant parts in reputational damage limitation.
Book a consultation
To find out more about how we can assist your organisation or school to become more resilient and raise awareness on preventing cyber-attacks from occurring, get in touch on 07368 932 467 or 07814 964 778 or use our contact form to book an initial consultation.
Cyber Management Alliance - Cyber Incident Planning & Response (CIPR)
Certified in Cybersecurity (CC)
QA Cyber Foundation Trained and Certified
ISO 27001 Lead Auditor - Information Security Certification
QA NPCC Cybercrime Foundation
Certificate Information Security Management Principles