As the incidence of breaches, hacking and viruses only continues to grow, cyber security has become a top priority for nearly every type of organization. There are several important steps business leaders should take to improve cyber security in the new year.
1. Increase Cyber Security Automation
Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly automated. Companies that don’t fight these types of threats with their own automation will be behind the curve. There are simply too many ways hackers can gain access to a system and it’s extremely difficult for a business to cover everything manually. The right automation can more quickly predict behavior and then execute action.
An organization may want to use a combination of security measures. For example, automation can carry out basic security checks while more complex threat assessments that are unique to each particular business can be handled by a team of IT experts. With machine learning and artificial intelligence, certain types of automation may also carry out and maintain more sophisticated security measures.
2. Focus on Mobile Device Security
According to Insights, an increasing number of people are using their cell phones in the workplace. Employees are relying on phones as well as other types of mobile devices more than ever while on the job. This means there must be a greater emphasis on securing mobile devices.
For starters, there needs to be clear company policies in place regarding different types of devices and regular training to ensure they’re being correctly followed. Since mobile devices are smaller, they are more easily lost or stolen. For this reason all phones and tablets should have lockout options and even auto-wipe of all data if several unsuccessful password or pin attempts have been made.
3. Understand Increased Regulations
State and federal regulations regarding privacy, data and other security issues are continually changing. In order to provide the best cyber security possible, it’s necessary to know and understand all the regulations that currently apply to particular institutions.
Certain laws and regulations apply more stringently to hospitals and medical facilities while others are more important to financial institutions. For example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) would affect any organization that deals with healthcare or medical data, but in particular, medical institutions.
4. Implement Biometric Verification
Biometric Verification is an exciting field that includes ways by which an individual can be identified using one or more unique physical traits. Everything from fingerprints and hand geometry to voice waves and retina patterns can be used to verify employees. No matter what type a business uses, the characteristic of each person is captured and kept in a database.
To keep biometric verification as hack-proof as possible, any company using this method will want to put in place a multi-factor system. All biometric data will also need to be encrypted and stored as securely as possible.
5. Improve Employee Training
Improving overall cyber security won’t mean a lot if employees aren’t trained properly. Human error is often the biggest cause of security failures in an organization. Some of the biggest breaches still occur because employees provide information they shouldn’t have or clicked on the wrong link.
While it’s necessary to understand general security, make sure training is not too generic. A company should send employees to training that is industry-specific and relates to the organization’s business, such as healthcare or banking.
Good cyber security is not a one time thing involving checking off a to-do list. It’s an ongoing process that continually needs to be managed and updated. Following the previous steps will get a company off to a good start in 2019.
Sources:
https://kb.iu.edu/d/bcnh