In today’s day and age, cyber security for companies is evolving rapidly. The expectations of privacy that either companies or individuals have are fast changing and somewhat hard to grasp. Whether it is a data breach at T-Mobile, a change in leadership at Twitter, or a change in legislation; anything can be of influence on the level of cyber security of your company.
Indeed, it is evident that the ability to have a safe online environment is increasingly more difficult every day. Although security measures get better, hackers, too, get more and more creative in their methods.
For example, juice jacking is an everyday occurrence in today’s digital age. Let’s not even start about practices like phone and email scams, which are becoming more personalized and widespread. All these methods can be used to gather information about any company or individual.
What is cyber security for companies?
To understand why cyber security is increasingly important, we should first establish what cyber security is. Basically, it comes down to the protection of internet-connected systems. This can both be hardware, like laptops and computers, or software that is installed on these devices. It aims to restrict and protect against unauthorized access to data by third parties.
The protection of your company and clients rely on the strategies for reducing risks of a cyber attack. Cyber security’s core function is to protect the devices we all use (smartphones, laptops, tablets and computers), and the services we access – both online and at work – from theft or damage.
What is the difference between cyber security and physical security?
Although somewhat logical, any company should be aware and act on the different aspects of security. That is to say, strategies should both tackle physical security and cyber security. The two are vastly different, but their overlap should be recognized to allow for a holistic approach to the topic of overall security.
On the one hand, physical security refers to the overall protection of people and physical assets from things like fires, floods, theft, and vandalism. There is definitely an overlap with cyber security, which in theory also tries to prevent theft and vandalism.
However, companies undervalue cyber security when compared to physical security. It is often the case that the two divisions operate in silos. Because of this, hackers are better able to identify weak spots in the security systems and conduct a successful attack. The attack, in turn, leads to the theft of sensitive or proprietary information, economic damage, and disruption of critical functions. Only through a holistic approach to the topic of security, the threats to your company can be minimized.
Why is cyber security important for companies?
Business data is more vulnerable than ever before. Creating a waterproof cyber security strategy for your company is necessary to efficiently operate your business. But, that’s not all. Such a strategy is also crucial for protecting the information of your customers. In sum, cyber security protects important data of your company and allows you to respect the customers’ privacy.
It should be evident that the importance of cyber security for companies can’t be underestimated. For one, because security issues are a threat exactly because there is little awareness about the topic. In line with this, a vast increase in data breaches can be seen over the last year. Actually, about a 70% increase in the third quarter of 2022 when compared to the third quarter of 2021. Hackers and hacks get more sophisticated, making it easier for hackers to gather a large amount of information about any particular company.
Cyber security for companies goes well beyond the latest technology for online privacy. It is more so aimed at staying ahead of risks and the potential disasters that can result in a lockdown of your company. How this is best achieved will be discussed in a bit.
What companies need cyber security?
Cyber security is relevant for any company. Yet, for some sectors it might even be of higher importance because of the risks involved.
For example, It should come as no surprise that cyber criminals are targeting financial institutions. Both banks as well as smaller financial firms are 300 times more likely to be targeted than any other company. This, of course, is the case because money is directly involved. Although the mere gathering of data can generate a lot of money for hackers, direct access to finances makes it even easier to do so.
Other sectors that should have an elaborate cyber security plan for their company include healthcare, e-commerce businesses, governmental institutions, manufacturers, and retailers. The importance of security in these cases mostly revolve around inhibiting the sharing of vulnerable information about clients or partners. Hackers can gain access to personal information, including credit card information, and misuse them in many different ways. All and all, any company that has customers or clients should aim to have their cyber security measures in order. Only this way a healthy and private relationships can be established.
How to increase the cyber security in your company?
There are many different ways to increase cyber security in companies. For starters, one should physically inhibit unauthorized individuals to enter the devices of your employees. That is to say, be sure that every employee knows about the dangers of hackers and how to keep their devices safe.
Training employees is essential to secure the online privacy of your company. Sharing how and how often to make backups, what a good password is, and overall training on security principles is essential to respect the security standards of your company.
To add, making use of measures like a webcam slide, USB data blockers, or iPhone Privacy Cases will counter anyone that tries to enter devices in a more cunning manner. Although often overlooked, inhibiting the hacker from gathering any information begins with physical measurements. Only after that, companies should think about firewalls and other online measures. Staying ahead of any risk is best established through things like data blockers, cases, or webcam slides.
