As a business owner, you need to do everything in your power to protect yourself from data breaches and cyber attacks. Too many companies go without cyber protection, putting their data and network at risk. In order to stay secure, every business should have a cyber attack vulnerability checklist and a plan for how to quickly recover from an attack. In the event of a worst-case scenario, a comprehensive recovery strategy could save your business.
Digital Asset Inventory
Unlike working on your home personal computer, a business’ data does not exist entirely in one place. Digital assets can be stored on multiple systems, devices, websites and cloud-based services. In the event of a cyber attack, your business needs to be able to find and recover these assets as quickly as possible. Without a clear inventory of data, it’s difficult to know exactly what needs to be recovered. Also, a thorough inventory allows you to identify weak points in cyber security. Taking a digital asset inventory should be at the top of your cyber attack vulnerability checklist.
Review SaaS Vendor Agreements
A common mistake that businesses make with cyber security is assuming that their Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors backup their data. Find out how the vendor protects your data and whether or not they have a strong recovery plan. A surprising amount of SaaS vendors do not do this, so it is imperative to find out.
Next up on your cyber attack vulnerability checklist should be making sure your vendors and cloud service providers have a solid security and data protection policy. The policies should not be overly legalistic or complicated and must meet the standard requirements for safety.
Finally, it’s important that the vendors and services you use are transparent and proactive with reporting issues on their end. Make sure they notify you of any updates or changes as well as security breaches. Without this, you can never ensure that your business is protected, even if you are doing everything right on your end.
Crisis Management
Every business should have a crisis management plan on their cyber attack vulnerability checklist. It is far too common that a business focuses on disaster recovery only after a hardware failure or data center outage. In reality, most cyber emergencies require a system in place to deal with the crisis as it occurs.
Make sure all of your employees know who to notify during a cyber attack. Set up an employee to be responsible for company communications because a data breach can severely mar a company’s reputation. Finally, determine what immediate actions to take while preserving logs and data for a forensic analyst.
Data Protection
A cyber attack vulnerability checklist should include several measures to protect data. This includes encrypting all data, which keeps your data safe in the event of a cyber attack. This is simple, effective and adds an extra security wall for your data. Keep all sensitive information in as few hands as possible. Only provide information to essential, trusted employees. Finally, don’t over store data. Many businesses make the mistake of collecting more information than they are capable of securing.
Cyber Attack Vulnerability Checklist
Protecting a business’ data is no simple task. Between all of the updates, backups, and maintenance – staying secure is often too much for a business to handle on their own. This is where business IT services come into the picture. Bay Computing and Consulting Services was founded with the simple goal of providing the best service and support for our customers.
Our vast array of services include everything from commercial computer networking to residential computer repairs. Our highly trained and knowledgeable staff has the knowledge and expertise to help you solve any computing issues in a quick and effective manner. To secure your business’ data, contact us today.