6 cyber security plan basics for a small business
A small business cyber security plan must cover all types of threat to your online systems. From staff accidentally leaking important data to virus software shutting you out of your machine – your security strategy must look at what's happening now, and how to make improvements.
What should a small business cyber security plan take into account?
To create a robust cyber security plan, you need to look at all areas of your business to determine how they'll be affected and how they can be strengthened against a cyber attack. Your plan should then set out what steps you're taking to prevent an attack, as well as what you plan to do if your business is threatened.
Here are our top six factors to consider when developing your cyber security plan.
1) Staff training and knowledge
Educating your staff on cyber security issues immediately strengthens your defence.
Even the best cyber security software can't prevent every threat. Educating your staff on safe sharing of data and passwords as well as current cyber security issues immediately strengthens your defence because they can recognise a potential problem before it escalates.
2) Decide which cyber security software is most relevant to your business
Evaluate your current level of exposure, and what kind of attacks are most likely to cause problems. For example, do you need to protect against malware, phishing or man-in-the-middle attacks? Knowing more about the different types of threats and which could affect your business most severely means you can implement the most effective solution first.
As you continue your threat analysis over time, you can adjust your protection appropriately.
3) Consider all your IT assets
Lots of businesses focus on laptops and computers when it comes to IT security, but it's important you look at your wider assets too. As well as protecting your network infrastructure, you also need to think about well your most important documents are protected internally, and what happens if a staff member loses a USB stick loaded with sensitive information, and include best-practice guidelines in your cyber security plan.
4) What to do in case of a cyber attack
Prevention is better than cure, but in the event you do fall victim to an attack, how are you going to react? You need to communicate the attack to your staff, and give them clear instructions about what to do next. It's also important to know what to do to stop each type of cyber attack, and which members of your team have the knowledge to put your plan into action.
5) Create a plan for regular audits
Cyber security isn't a one-time issue. Threats and best practice continually evolve so it's important that you don't wait until something happens to reassess your needs. Make sure to audit your system on a regular basis and make this part of your overarching cyber security plan.
6) Work with an external agency with the knowledge to support you
Partnering with an external IT security firm means you can rest easy that your business is protected.
For many small businesses, keeping up with new types of threats and how to deal with them just isn't practical. If they have an IT department at all, it's unlikely they'll have a large enough team to devote any real time to it. Partnering with an external IT security firm with the technology and knowledge to continually assess your entire IT network and asset base means you can rest easy that your business is protected, and let your internal team get on with their job.
For further advice around creating your small business cyber security plan, contact the IT experts at Biztech. We can assess your current infrastructure, recommend security steps or manage your cyber security for you.