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Though cybersecurity should be an ongoing process, for some it is often considered a tick box exercise or in cases where budgets are restricted, it can be overlooked altogether. Cybersecurity Awareness Month presents an opportunity to raise awareness around the need to remain vigilant and consider the processes organisations can, and should, put in place.
While many focus on external threats, it’s important not underestimate the potential risks posed by insider threats. Employees, whether malicious or simply negligent, can inadvertently compromise sensitive data. To combat this, organisations should foster a culture of transparency and accountability, encouraging employees to report suspicious activities without fear of retribution. This approach not only mitigates risks but also empowers staff to take an active role in cybersecurity.
Moreover, organisations must prepare for the inevitable - breaches will happen. Instead of solely investing in prevention, businesses should prioritise building robust incident response plans that include the need for strong data backups. The ransom attack on UnitedHealth earlier this year, was a prime example of how poor backup processes can have devastating consequences.
In fact, many organisations dismiss the value of a comprehensive backup strategy and a recent Apricorn survey found that 25% were only able to partially recover their data/documents following a breach. Regularly backing up data is not just a best practice; it’s a necessity. A backup and recovery strategy that follows the ‘3-2-1 rule’, having at least three copies of data, stored on at least two different media, one of which should be offsite can be the difference between a minor setback and a catastrophic failure.