Written by León Lanis V., Paralegal
Over the last few years, cybersecurity has been a hot topic for every type of business in any part of the world, and it’s no wonder why. Current statistics show that cybercrime produces a staggering yearly financial loss of US $8 trillion, most of the loss coming from breaches and ransomwares (i.e when a criminal steals your systems and asks for ransom), attacks have increased 105% since last year, and an average of 4.1 billion records of data have been leaked just this half-year from companies worldwide, all while only having a 12% increase in the spending and implementation of cybersecurity measure in companies globally.
Although cybersecurity might be expensive, it is important to implement effective measures and technology in order to safely protect your business from cyber threats. Imagine not investing on locks, fences, cameras and alarms on your business if there was an uptick in burglaries in the neighbourhood! This said, many companies don’t know where to start when addressing this complex matter, and it may be very overwhelming to understand the threats and solutions involved in cybersecurity. In this blog, we will give you simple and practical tips in order to know where to start and what to look for, specially taking in consideration the local regulations your business might need to comply with.
FIRST THINGS FIRST: THE THREATS
It is merely impossible to effectively protect your business from cyberthreats without knowing what the threats are.
In a nutshell, a cyberthreat is any exploit a hacker can do with your systems. The rule of thumb is that all systems are vulnerable one way or another, and hackers use such vulnerabilities to access and attack your organisation.
For starters, 90% of vulnerabilities come from human error and exploitability. This means that most attacks come when bad actors exploit a company’s human resource in order to effectively access a computer system. These threats are categorised in one of these two: insider threats and phishing threats.
The first one, insider threat, is when an employee or member of your organisation compromises a system by exploiting it by himself or by allowing third parties access to a system. It is very important to have good control of the access privileges and maintain very strict permissions over “admin privileges”, which is the main controller of a computer’s systems.
On the other hand, phishing relates to the use of manipulation and forgery in order to make a neutral insider (i.e a not involved employee or member) give access to the criminal. Phishing is the most common threat vector, where criminals usually use fake email addresses and social engineering in order to commit such crimes.
All other threats are more commonly associated with software and hardware threats, where it is very important to have clear rules of which software and hardware people of your company are allowed to use, buy only trusted vendors and keep your software updated all the time.
Although it might be still very overwhelming, we will now give you a few important and easy solutions to help you dive through this complex matter.
NIST: HOW MANAGE YOUR COMPUTER ASSETS
NIST is the US-based National Institute of Standards and Technology, which has created the state-of-the-art standards for cybersecurity and other computer related matters. NIST has a very comprehensive framework which clarifies the steps in order to effectively manage cyberthreats, which is expressed in the following steps:
- Identify: identification starts by laying out which computer assets your company has and which threats may affect them (as aforementioned). A good identification process, which includes governance, risk assessment, management strategy, amongst other things, may prove to be essential to prevent cybersecurity events.
- Protect: this is an implementation phase, which will require you to apply strategies, cybersecurity software, train staff, etc. This is correlated with the aforementioned strategies that you may implement, where having an expert consultant is extremely helpful.
- Detect: part of the strategy will necessarily need a method to effectively recognise when a system has been compromised. As we will explain later, outsourcing this to a company dedicated to monitoring threats will be very useful.
- Respond: once a vulnerability has been exploited, having a timely and effective response is imperative. Here is where strategies are proven effective or not, and applying good firewalls and other security software will diminish the attackers reach. While responding it is also necessary to check if you need to communicate the incident to clients and regulators, usually cybersecurity companies adapt to your local regulation and response times.
- Recover: once the event is controlled, you will need to check the damage done and recover any loss of data.
OUTSOURCING: LETTING THE EXPERTS DO THE JOB
The above framework is probably overwhelming to most companies, but also very difficult to manage in the long run without some type of help or outsourcing.
In the last decade, cybersecurity firms have been popping up all around the world in order to supply effective solutions which will make of those problems fade away.
Now, not all companies offer the same products and services and some may also exploit the general lack of knowledge in order to sell services with little actual benefit.
A good cybersecurity firm should offer, for starters, a diagnostic service. This generally includes studying your company and using software in order to check how vulnerable your company is. This is known as ethical hacking in the guild, i.e, using hackers to get into your systems but in order to show you where your company is vulnerable.
After running diagnostics, cybersecurity firms will usually offer you a variety of services, this should normally include: staff training, monitor and response software, regulator communication services, etc. One of the most useful services, which tend to cover all of the necessities, is a Security Operations Center (‘SOC’). A SOC is basically an online connection between the firm and your company which will monitor vulnerabilities in real time and respond without delay.
CONCLUSIONS
Cybersecurity poses a significant challenge for businesses, with threats becoming increasingly sophisticated and widespread. As illustrated, understanding the various types of cyber threats and implementing robust protective measures is critical. However, navigating this complex landscape can be daunting without expert guidance.
Harris Gomez Group specialises in helping businesses comply with cybersecurity regulations and protect their valuable assets. Our team of legal and cybersecurity experts can provide you with tailored advice, ensuring your company not only meets compliance requirements but also stays ahead of potential threats. From initial risk assessments to implementing comprehensive security frameworks, we are here to support you every step of the way.
Don’t leave your business vulnerable to cyber attacks. Get in touch with our team to learn how we can help safeguard your company’s future with our comprehensive cybersecurity services.
