Strong Cyber-Security Policies are Crucial To Business Success

Despite data breaches like the Equifax data breach plaguing the business world, it can be sad to learn that some business owners aren’t yet on board with building a strong cyber-security policy. Instead, they leave things to chance and only concentrate on checking off compliance requirements. Sadly for Equifax, the data breach cost them a total of $439 million by the end of 2017, according to Pymnts, and the costs are still piling up.

All these costs are despite them having already invested in the state of the art cyber-security infrastructure. If you wouldn’t like to have the same happen to your business, then investing in infrastructure alone will not suffice. You also need to enforce the right cyber-security policies to support your infrastructure.

Here is how to improve your business’s tenacity to the ever-evolving threat landscape:

It Starts With the Right Infrastructure

The threat landscape differs from business to business, and it takes customized tools to help mitigate the risks, according to DNSstuff. When planning your cyber-security policy, you should assess your IT assets and make a list of your current and future threats. While there is a diversity of security tools to invest in, budgetary limits can hold you back.

It is wise to use tools that offer the most bang for your buck. Additionally, you should also focus on security layering to mask the flaws in any tools. Lastly, your policy should identify individuals in the IT team that will be in charge of taking insights from these security tools.

Employee Training Also Counts

Employees can be a cyber-security wild card. Everything from being susceptible to phishing attacks to failing to set strong passwords might lead to your company’s data being breached. Your cyber-security policy should provide the best practices for cyber-security including:

  • How to set passwords
  • Reporting security incidents
  • How to access the network remotely
  • Acceptable internet use at work

Instead of making employees feel intimidated after a successful phishing attack, approach the situation cautiously to diffuse the culture of trying to solve security situations on their own. On the other hand, avoid over-limiting your employees as this might kill their productivity. If they want to use the internet at work, it would be better to give them some leeway in your policy. In case anyone breaks the code of conduct, however, some form of punishment should follow.

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Matter

A single situation of downtime for your IT assets could lead to huge losses. These losses are bound to pile up if your business cannot manage to rise from the ashes. The trick lies in having a well-defined disaster recovery and business continuity program.

Backing up data will typically play a crucial role in this. Employees need to know who should play the role of restoring the data, PR and even helping to solve the cyber-security issue at hand. It all trickles down to teamwork when looking to survive a data breach.

Having Some Liability Insurance Will Be Handy

In situations of successful data breaches, liability insurance can help bring down the cost of the attack. For instance, Equifax had $125 million of the costs of its cyber breach paid down through an insurance policy. Additionally, liability policy can act as a tool for gaining the trust of investors.

cyber-security policies insurance

This is because you will need to prove that you are following security best practices before you can even be accepted for liability insurance. Even once accepted, a claim can only be accepted once the insurance company identifies that you are committed to sticking to the right protocols.

Conclusion

A secure business starts with the right mindset towards cyber-security threats. With a security policy in place and the support of both employees and infrastructure, it can become easier to embrace the right mentality. Consider formulating a formidable policy to avoid major losses.