Every day brings with it an opportunity for organisations to reflect and renew their focus and investment in cyber security defences to protect their systems.
It isn't new knowledge that Australian businesses continue to be targeted by sophisticated cyber attacks, and thankfully there is a multitude of free resources such as the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) and the Australian Signals Directorate that exist solely to help improve cyber security and make Australia a secure place to connect online.
Under the Morrison Government, then Defence Minister, Linda Reynolds, outlined urgent advice for all Australian businesses to follow in order to protect themselves, which the ACSC quickly aligned to and developed further educational resources available to all.
3 simple yet key actions
We have outlined these three simple steps, across three blogs, encouraged to provide a baseline of protection:
- Updating and/or patching your devices to protect important information.
- Using Multi-Factor Authentication to protect your accounts, and - READ HERE.
- Regularly backing up your data to the cloud or external hard drive - READ HERE.
In this article, we deep dive into why it is critical to "update your devices".
Why should you update your device/s?
Modern cybercriminals who develop malicious programs and computer viruses look for ways into your devices via your systems and software.
One of the most common and successful ways of cyber attack is through exploiting weaknesses in software, which is known as a vulnerability. When your software is not up to date, it’s like leaving the front door unlocked to your business, providing easy access for cyber criminals to gain access to your important business data and systems.
Making sure that your devices and software are regularly updated can also be referred to as 'patching' or patch management, which is generally a term used by IT teams or Managed IT providers.
What is patch management?
Patch management (or 'patching') is a term used which describes the process of distributing updates to software, which corrects vulnerabilities and improves user experience, performance and security. Patches are written by software vendors to repair bugs and improve stability.
In conjunction with a strong cybersecurity strategy, patching is a crucial tool to keep your systems secure. Without updates, your system will quickly become vulnerable to security threats.
Automating your patch management (or engaging a trusted third party to manage your IT function) will not only reduce the number of hours involved in manual updates, but ensure that all software, regardless of whether it is located in your office or remotely, remains updated and secure.
Why is applying updates or patching critical for your security?
- Strengthen Cybersecurity: Patch management ensures that any vulnerabilities within your software are fixed regularly in order to reduce the risk of cybersecurity threats to your organisation. For modern workforce's, patch management also ensures that no matter where your employees are working from, their devices are secure.
- Functionality improvements: While patch managements' core focus is improving cybersecurity, regular patching also provides functionality updates to your software and applications. This ensures your employees are always using the latest version of software, and using the full suite of features available.
- Reduce IT down time: Patch management not only reduces the down time of your systems by ensuring they remain up to date and operating smoothly, but also frees up precious time for your staff, allowing them to focus on core business operations.
- Maintain Compliance: Many industries are now required by legislation to maintain a certain level of cybersecurity compliance and protection of business and customer data. Patch management is a critical security component for organisations to meet compliance requirements.
The ACSC offers a range of user-friendly guides that detail how to ensure your devices are up to date, depending on what operating system your organisation uses. These include:
In our next blog, we will look at how Multi-Factor Authentication is one of the simplest and most effective ways to ensure your networks remain secure.
How Diamond IT can help strengthen your cyber defences
Diamond IT will work with you to ensure your staff are aware of the types of ever-evolving cyber threats, and equip them with tools and a high level of cyber and data awareness and comprehension.
Our online Cyber Security Staff Awareness Training and Cyber Security Health Check can have an immediate impact on the strength of your security.
Our Business Technology Consultants are specialists in improving your internal cyber security. We offer a range of security solutions to ensure your employees and business remains secure, with many included in our Managed Services Agreements including:
- Multi-Factor Authentication
- Diamond Management Systems and Patching
- Cyber Security Awareness Training
- Cyber and Data Breach Consulting and Forensic Analysis
- Disaster Recovery (DR) Planning
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.
