The recent economic downturn has put many UK businesses under a significant amount of pressure to remain operational and profitable. Unfortunately, this pressure can often result in companies overlooking cyber security, which could ultimately lead to devastating consequences. In this article, we will explore how to economic downturn could affect business’ cyber security and what measures you can take to mitigate your risk.
The economic downturn has forced many businesses to reduce their budgets, cut costs, and in some cases dismiss employees. These measures can lead to businesses neglecting their cyber security, which could result in increased vulnerability to phishing, malware, ransomware, and hacking.
So, what can businesses do to mitigate their cyber security risks during this time? Here, are some of our top key steps:
1. Prioritise Cyber Security
It is essential to prioritise cyber security, even during tough economic times. Businesses should make sure they allocate sufficient funds and resources to cyber security, which is crucial to protecting your systems and data.
2. Conduct Regular Security Assessments
Performing regular security assessments can help you identify your weaknesses and vulnerabilities, allowing you to address these promptly before it’s too late. A security assessment should cover all aspects of your network and systems, including hardware, software, and people – following the assessment, you will gain an understanding of what aspects of your security you need to prioritise.
3. Educate Your Employees
Your workforce is the first line of defence against cyber threats. Businesses should provide regular, engaging training and education to their team covering the latest cyber security best practices. Awareness training is a highly-effective, yet low-cost exercise in reducing your your organisational risk – in fact, businesses can see a reduction of up to 80% in social engineering attacks when cyber training is implemented.
Don’t let your training be another tick-box exercise! Provide ongoing education and resources to keep your team updated on the latest threats.
4. Implement Multi-Factor Authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a security measure that requires users to provide additional forms of authentication before gaining access to an account. MFA can help prevent unauthorised access to sensitive data and systems, even if an employee’s credentials are compromised.
5. Back Up Your Data
Performing data backups are essential to ensuring that a business can quickly recover from a cyber attack. In the event of a breach, backups will help you reduce the fallout and minimise company downtime by allowing your business to get back on track as soon as possible. Backups should be conducted regularly, and this data should be stored in a secure location separate to your primary network.
Cyber security solutions for less!
We understand that it has never been more important to keep costs low and implement smart budgeting throughout your business. Cyber security is becoming a more crucial element of your organisation’s growth plans – with cyber attacks rising year on year, it is crucial to ensure your business is ahead of the game!
Plan ahead and secure your business for less with us by your side. Our catalogue of products and services are designed to flex and scale to your business’s needs and requirements, allowing you to save resources, efforts, and time.
Benefit from huge savings when you opt for our managed security services, and ensure your business is resilient against cyber criminal tactics during this difficult time.
Book in for your free risk assessment to discover how we can help you today!
