With 2022 demonstrating just how easily (and frequently) sensitive personal and business information can be compromised and shared online, it's essential for leaders to be acting now to take charge of their cyber security defences.
While recent targeted cyber attacks, coupled with changing regulations and compliance standards have created an increasingly complicated cyber security landscape for Australian businesses, thankfully, there are some simple steps that you can take to quickly improve the overall posture of your cyber security strategy.
Three steps to start taking control of your cyber security.
1. Assess your current state
One of the most reliable ways to improve your cyber security posture is to first measure your cyber security posture, by benchmarking your current practices, systems and solutions against other businesses in your industry to identify areas of weakness, high risk and in turn opportunities for improvement.
Unfortunately, businesses are never going to be able to achieve an entirely risk-proof cyber security posture. With the rate at which cybercriminals are evolving, it is more about creating a strong cyber security posture, that provides the highest number of roadblocks possible between cybercriminals and your business.
Conducting a health check on your existing cyber security strategy will not only help develop a roadmap to improve your organisation's defences, but will also put you in good stead with ever-evolving regulations.
Some questions you can ask as part of your check-up include:
- How do your current security protocols stack up against Government best practices such as the Essential Eight?
- Are you optimising the performance of your network?
- Are any of your devices and applications at risk? Do you frequently assess your Firewall security?
- Do you have a data back up and recovery plan?
- How will you respond to a data breach?
- Do your employees know how to identify, avoid, and/or report cyber security risks?
Having an independent third party review your cybersecurity health can identify any weaknesses, vulnerabilities or abnormal user behaviour and provide recommendations to remediate them. This is where we recommend working with a trusted technology partner who has access to this level of relevant industry data, to deliver an impartial review of your business' cyber posture.
2. Start with the Basics
The Essential Eight are Strategies to Mitigate Cyber Security Incidents and act as a baseline to help organisations protect themselves against various cyber threats and make it much harder for cybercriminals to compromise systems. The Essential Eight is a great place to start for organisations looking to improve their cyber security posture quickly.
Read here: Unpacking the ACSC's Essential Eight.
There are a number of government and non-government bodies that provide frameworks and resources to support and guide SMB's. Some of the most reputable information sources include:
- The Essential Eight
- The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC)
- Australian Signals Directorate (ASD)
3. Talk to an Expert
A good cyber security strategy should be split between both technology and governance and viewed as not simply "the IT departments problem". The responsibility of creating a cyber security strategy falls to the board and/or business leaders and owners, with your employees responsibility being to support it.
Cyber security options can be broken into two categories:
- Cyber security protection – which focuses on the technical and technology aspects of cyber security,
designed to elevate the protection of your systems and your data, and,
- Cyber security governance – which focuses on planning, policy, risk-assessment and education.
Engaging a specialist technology partner who can guide your business through the process of creating a strong cyber security strategy will ensure that your strategic objectives and goals are aligned with industry best practices and any regulatory or industry-specific requirements.
How Diamond IT can help you take charge of your Cyber Security
The Diamond IT team specialise in reviewing cyber security strategies to ensure they are fit-for-purpose, align with government recommendations, and include the necessary defences required to best protect your business from malicious threats. We offer a range of security solutions to ensure your employees and business remains secure, including:
- Multi-Factor Authentication
- Diamond Management Systems and Patching
- Cyber and Data Breach Consulting and Forensic Analysis
- Disaster Recovery (DR) Planning
- Cyber Security Awareness Training
If you need advice on how you can ensure your cyber security strategy is fit for purpose, our team of cyber security experts are ready to help. Contact our team on 1300 307 907 today.
