In a 2024 survey, the UK government found that 50% of businesses reported some kind of cyber security breach over the previous 12 months. Getting a grip on your cyber security isn’t just a belt and braces approach anymore, it’s a necessity.
In this blog post, we’re going to run through a simple, eight-step cyber security plan to give you a starting point and help you shore up your cyber defences. For comprehensive cyber security support, make sure to reach out to our expert team today. Check out how we’ve helped businesses like yours with our advanced IT support services.
OPTIMISING IT’S EIGHT-POINT CYBER SECURITY ACTION PLAN:
1. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY
As with many things, the first step is realising the issue and deciding to take those first steps to resolve it. During the same survey mentioned above, the government estimated that breaches cost medium to large businesses an average of more than £10,000.
Cyber security breaches are not just disruptive but also have real-world consequences for your business and need to be prevented at all costs. With this cyber security plan template from Optimising IT, you can take this crucial first step.
2. UNDERSTAND THE RISKS
Next on our list is to gain an understanding of the risks involved in cyber security, both in general and for your business specifically. It’s important that you appreciate what’s at stake and how cyber criminals target businesses.
This knowledge can help inform your cyber security approach and ensure your commitment to maintaining it.
3. PROTECT YOUR DATA
In the modern world, data is king. Our information has become a valuable commodity, bought and sold by unscrupulous digital exploiters. When attackers target your business, this is likely what they’re looking for.
One of the first things you should shield should be your company’s data and any information you store regarding your customers; a breach in either could be embarrassing and costly.
4. TRAIN YOUR STAFF
A core aspect of your cyber security plan should be to train your staff in how to spot and avoid common threats. A common technique used by cyber criminals is to exploit the naivety of untrained staff using phishing emails and other tactics to trick your team members into exposing sensitive information.
With training, you can make sure your staff are clued up and harder to fool.
5. SECURE YOUR PASSWORDS
Another weak spot that attackers will attempt to exploit is your passwords. Simplistic passwords can be easily guessed or worked out, and if you’ve used the same password for multiple accounts, the attacker then has access to everything you’ve used it for.
Take some time to come up with complex, unique passwords for each account and make sure to keep track of them. You can even implement systems such as periodic password changes for additional security.
6. IMPLEMENT CYBER SECURITY COMPLIANCE
An easy way to cover all your bases and improve your marketability is to implement cyber security compliance. In the course of obtaining a certification such as Cyber Essentials, you can achieve a healthy level of protection for your business while gaining a certification that will display your digital competency to prospective customers.
7. TEST YOUR SYSTEMS
This is a crucial step in our cyber security plan template: benchmark your performance, both as a starting point and as part of your ongoing strategy.
One of the best ways to do this is with third-party penetration testing. This is where you pay a trusted third party to deliberately, but safely, breach your systems, probing for and recording any weaknesses so you know where to start when it comes to strengthening your defences.
8. GET SUPPORT FROM CYBER SECURITY EXPERTS
A major feature of your cyber security plan should be to seek expert help. Cyber security is complex and always evolving. It’s unlikely that, on top of your day-to-day job, you’ll have the time to keep up to date on the latest methods and best practices and implement necessary changes fast enough.
Reach out to a cyber security expert that can help you implement the latest defences and keep your practices up to date on a continuous basis.
