In the world of digital transformation, a sound cybersecurity plan is the only thing standing between a business and malicious threats. The 2016 State of SMB Cybersecurity Report states that about 14 million small businesses were attacked by hackers, which is half the number of small businesses in the United States.

The start of a new year is the best time to implement changes in your business and make improvements. Wondering which topics to address in your beginning-of-year meetings? Read on as we address a few critical cybersecurity topics.

How Can You Develop A Cybersecurity Plan For Your Business?

Identifying all possible threats and designing a system that protects your software is essential in cybersecurity planning. All businesses are connected to the internet and they use different types of software to achieve their objectives. All these factors and more mean that practically every organization is susceptible to cyber attacks. Carry out a risk assessment for your business that covers the following:

• The goals you need to achieve.
• The software needed to turn the goals into reality.
• The potential risks and cyberattacks.
• The gravity of the impact if the cyberattacks do occur.
• The odds of experiencing the cyberattacks
• Ways to mitigate the cyberattacks if they occur.

Let’s elaborate more on how you can develop a top-notch cybersecurity plan for your business.

Pinpoint Any Potential Vulnerabilities In Your Tech Stack

A tech stack or data ecosystem is made up of every software that a business needs to operate and reach targets. It includes every tool, operating system, operating language, and software that is used by an organization. In the event of a cyberattack, one or more parts of your tech stack will be vulnerable. It is essential to examine all parts of your tech stack and isolate any present weaknesses that may be exploited by hackers. On a lighter note, if security gaps are found, IT services companies like Silverstone Technology Group can come up with cybersecurity solutions that will secure every level of your tech stack.

Third parties are an important part of an organization’s tech stack and they usually have the most security vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities in the third party can render an organization defenseless. Most cyberattacks that shook the business world have one thing in common: third-party use.

Most third-party vendors require access to company data and infrastructure to function. If the third-party application is not properly secured, it provides a gateway for hackers and puts your business at risk. 25% of businesses use at least 100 third-party vendors. 90% of these third parties are given access to critical or classified information, which is a security risk of enormous proportions. 89% of companies have reported being dissatisfied with their efforts to secure third-party access.

Keep Abreast With Possible Threats

As software technology evolves, so do cybersecurity threats. Keeping abreast with possible threats will ensure that your company is always one step ahead. Discussing cybersecurity threats and implementing plans to neutralize them will ensure that your data is always protected. Hacking evolves and it borrows from what worked in the past and perfects it.

Ransomware and phishing emails have become more common. Ransomware works by encrypting data and making it inaccessible to the owner. The owner is forced to pay ‘ransom’ for the data to be decrypted.

Discuss all possible cybersecurity threats and discuss an effective response plan. Implement a smart data backup strategy and prevent data loss through cyber attacks like ransomware.

Study Every Current Cyber Attack

The news can be an excellent source of current information, including the most recent cyber attacks.

Currently, the most common types of cyber attacks are ransomware and distributed denial of service (DDoS). DDoS attacks are expected to peak at 15.4 million by 2023, which is unprecedented. DDoS attacks harm your business by blocking all legitimate traffic to your website. The consequences of being offline for just a few hours can be devastating for businesses. Revenue is lost and customers become disgruntled.

The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack had devastating consequences and caused gasoline shortages and widespread panic in the U.S.

Studying how each cyber attack was carried out will help you to spot weaknesses in your defense system and take the necessary steps to protect your business before anything goes wrong.

Bring In Professionals To Help Secure Your Data

Enlisting the help of IT services professionals will take your data security from adequate to exceptional. Professionals can thoroughly assess each level of your tech stack and secure all your data. You can get services like ransomware prevention and remediation, antivirus, and email security scanning.

Implement A Strategy To Secure Your Workforce

A solid cybersecurity plan always involves educating employees about the best security practices. Employees are a direct path to your internal data and infrastructure, therefore, they are one of your weakest links. Train your employees on the best cyber hygiene practices. Training should cover the following:

• How to safeguard important customer and vendor data.
• How to identify a phishing email.
• Creating strong passwords.
• Avoiding suspicious downloads.
• Using an efficient antivirus.

One of the most efficient ways to help your employees to spot phishing emails is to activate phishing simulations. Using phishing simulations at intervals has been proven to decrease clicks by at least 27%.

Every organization has sensitive data to protect, and this becomes even more important as more and more employees switch to working remotely. All employees should activate high-performance VPNs before accessing company data. This ensures that all data is encrypted and prevents hacking.

Secure Your Data For 2022 And Beyond

As we get into the new business year, it is important to have a solid business plan. A detailed business plan will ensure that your business goes on an upward trajectory. Cybersecurity is an area that is neglected to some extent by most businesses. Make sure your company is secured and get in contact with experts that can help to protect your business from cyber attacks. Include cybersecurity planning in your start-of-year meetings and be secured in 2022 and beyond.