Moving Forward with Your Cyber Plan

Cybersecurity is all over the news. Considering the increasing volume of today's cyberattacks and the unfolding complexities of future cyber threats, you might find that you're working from limited cybersecurity resources. When thinking about the challenges you face in protecting your business, it can be overwhelming. That's why you need to have a cybersecurity plan.

Cybersecurity threats continue to evolve and grow in complexity year after year. As cybercriminals introduce increasingly sophisticated means of stealing, deceiving, and robbing businesses, new solutions aimed at thwarting cyber-crimes emerge to prevent digital hijackers from accessing your data. Are you fully protected? 

This post provides small businesses with a brief overview of why you need a cybersecurity plan and covers reasons to assess your current cybersecurity strategies. As the New Year gets on its way, it is time to move forward with your cybersecurity plan.

The battle between cyber criminals who devise new ways to deceive cybersecurity protections never ends, so your budgeted resources must evolve to stay protected. If your cybersecurity plan is to cross that bridge when you come to it, then you're doomed from the start. 

Cybersecurity is proactive. Think about it, what would you do if you were hit with a ransomware attack or business data breach right now?  

You'll wish you had an effective plan in place. 

Paying attention to a cybersecurity incident once it arises is a dangerous approach with the potential for cripplingly expensive outcomes. When you take a reactive security stance, you've lost the ability to plan ahead and make smart decisions because you're in the thick of an overwhelming situation, putting out flames on an already-engulfed network. 

On the other hand, having a cyber plan in place delivers peace of mind knowing you're prepared for threats before they arrive. A practical, proactive cybersecurity approach helps you detect and mitigate potential threats before they occur, letting you take a calm, systematic approach to any and every threat occurrence. 

Skip the guesswork and get actionable recommendations from our security experts.

What is a Cybersecurity Plan?

An essential tool for businesses against cybercriminals, your cybersecurity plan protects you, your customers, employees, and business data. A cybersecurity plan defines your present and future status while providing the clarity and assurance that enables IT defenses and effective communication surrounding your cybersecurity capabilities. Your cyber plan also provides a roadmap for what to do if you fall victim to a cyberattack.

A cybersecurity plan helps you identify critical assets and threats prioritized based on those that would hurt the organization the most and leadership insight. What are you protecting, and what or who poses the most significant threat?  

An effective cybersecurity policy should remain unobtrusive so that your organization can set and achieve its goals. The in-your-face procedures that keep employees from doing their jobs create obstacles to work around and will eventually be sidestepped, or worse, ignored. The most effective cybersecurity practices are repeatable, documented, and support risk management awareness. 

Have peace of mind. Let's see where you stand with a cybersecurity risk assessment.

 Why You Need a Cybersecurity Plan?

The increased demand for business cybersecurity solutions follows the growing complexities and rising small business attacks. Due to the pandemic, the first half of 2020 saw a slew of businesses transition to remote working environments, disrupting everything and leaving many organizations to struggle in performing even regular operations. 

The pandemic introduced a double-whammy for businesses. Companies without a cybersecurity plan were easily distracted by the business problems of the moment. Implementing new networking and communication solutions meant added vulnerability from hastily selected remote tools, making them easy targets for cybercriminals to hack and breach data.

With so many companies adopting remote working structures and using new and unprotected digital tools, cybercriminals capitalized on the current and plentiful opportunities, doubling their attempts to sneak into networks and steal critical data. And it worked.

An effective cybersecurity plan equips you with a strategy for disruptions like this without taking on additional vulnerabilities. You're able to identify needed upgrades and prepare for change while uncovering bad habits resulting from a lack of cybersecurity awareness among staff. 

A Plan Includes a Cybersecurity Budget

Creating a practical, budget-friendly cybersecurity stance is more important than ever before. As cybersecurity threats are growing, your cybersecurity budget must evolve to keep up. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, global spending on cybersecurity will exceed $1 trillion by next year because of the constant threats. 

Privacy regulations will play a significant role in that figure, with a large percentage of companies expanding their cybersecurity budgets to meet these changing data privacy regulations. 

Cyber Planning for Data Privacy

In the event a cybercriminal gains access to your company's data or you become victim to a data breach affecting customers' personal information, you are required to notify supervisory authorities and data subjects within 72 hours in most cases.

Studies show that most companies with 500 and fewer employees lack in-house cybersecurity professionals and incident response plans. The research indicates that only 7% of SMB CEOs consider their organization's potential to be hit with a cyberattack, even when data shows cybercriminals targeted 67% of the same small businesses surveyed. 

That's a head-scratching statistic, but a lack of financial resources and qualified in-house IT teams play the most prominent role in high-risk decisions. A cyber plan is your ultimate guide to protecting your business and customers against cybercriminals.

Privacy violations, including unsafe data sharing and non-compliant data storage solutions, are increasingly problematic for small business owners. On top of the potential costs from cybercriminals accessing your data, industry regulatory organizations are stepping up fines for companies who do not adequately safeguard their customers' private data. A single privacy violation could cost millions of dollars in penalties, lawsuits, and even more in a damaged reputation. 

Increasing your cybersecurity protections with a limited budget in an uncertain time is an understandable concern, but cybercrime is on the rise, and you need to prepare now. 

Helping You Determine Your Cyber Risk?

Your cyber risk is the probability of reputational or financial loss measured from zero risk, low risk, medium risk, to high risk. Here are some questions to ask yourself and your teams:

• What are the existing threats to your company's data? 
• How strong or vulnerable is your current cybersecurity plan?
• Are you able to implement a sound cybersecurity plan yourself? 
• How will you detail all the elements of a good cybersecurity plan without risking a patchworked approach? 
• What reputation or financial harm could you suffer as a result of an attack?
• Are you overlooking the importance of a sound cybersecurity plan because you've never been hacked?
• How can you use your current IT team to help strengthen your cybersecurity posture?
• Do you need a cybersecurity risk evaluation?

The bottom line is that in 2021, businesses of all sizes need an effective, affordable, reliable cybersecurity plan– and the stakes have never been higher. 

A cybersecurity risk evaluation is critical in protecting your data and helps you understand, manage, control and mitigate cyber risk across your entire network. Let us help you plan for a successful and safe year.

CONTACT US TO RECIEVE A CYBERSECURITY RISK EVALUATION