As we enter a third national lockdown, 60% of the UK’s adult population are currently working from home. With this brings a whole new raft of cyber security threats to businesses. The usual security defences of working in an office are down. It is harder to maintain secure network security, many people are using their own BYOD for work purposes and cybercrime is rife.
CJAZ want to help protect our clients and any other SMEs who might be at risk.
For that reason, we have outlined 10 steps to address, to ensure your company is safe from hackers, viruses and staff who may be oblivious to the risks.
Watch the video for 10 Cyber Security tips.
Step 1. Raise Staff Awareness
Train all users to consider what they include in publicly available documents and web content. Users should also be aware of the risks from discussing work related topics on social media, and the potential of being targeted by phishing attacks. Our motto is Stop – Think – Connect.
Step 2. Increase Network Security
Protect your networks from attack. defend the network perimeter, filter out unauthorised access and malicious content. Monitor and test security controls.
CJAZ Consulting can help improve your network security in various ways from housing your servers in our secure datacentre to penetration testing of your IT equipment. Plus, if you're looking for 24/7 proactive protection we can also arrange the best security partnerships for your business through our partner network.
Step 3. Adopt Zero Trust
Many homeworkers are using their own devices for work purposes. This means that businesses could be putting themselves at risk several ways because of BYOD. They could be running old software versions that are more prone to attack. Anti-virus software could be out of date. Companies could be facing huge fines should their staff accidentally leak data and create a security breach.
Step 4. Removable Media Controls
Produce a policy to control all access to removable media. Limit media types and use. Scan all media for Malware before importing onto the corporate system.
Step 5. Secure Configuration
Apply security patches and ensure the secure configuration of all systems is maintained. Create a system inventory and define a baseline build for all devices. CJAZ Consulting are aware of the latest security releases and will ensure your security patches have been implemented effectively.
Step 6. Assign the right privileges
Establish effective management processes and limit the number of privileged accounts. Limit user privileges and monitor user activity. Control access to activity and audit logs. When you employ new staff, simply give our friendly support team a call and we will ensure they have the relevant user rights.
Step 7. Incident Management
Establish an incident response and disaster recovery capability. Test your incident management plans. Provide specialist training. Report criminal incidents to law enforcement. Should a security breach occur we will advise you on the correct procedure to follow and will help minimise any after-effect.
Step 8. Monitoring Strategy
Establish a monitoring strategy and produce supporting policies. Continuously monitor all systems and networks. Analyse logs for unusual activity that could indicate an attack. As a Managed Service Provider this is integral to our IT support service and something, we are constantly mindful of.
Step 9. Safe, secure home working
Have you addressed all of the risks that come with your staff working remotely. A full IT risk assessment needs to be carried out to measure any potential weaknesses in your IT security. CJAZ have a range of award-winning security tools at their disposal including DUO Multi Factor Authentication and DUO Beyond. These are tried and tested security methods that we can implement, quickly and effectively for your organisation.
Step 10. Risk Management Strategy
Assess the risks to your organisation's information and systems with the same vigour you would for legal, regulatory, financial or operational risks. To achieve this, embed a Risk Management Regime across your organisation, supported by the Board and Senior Managers. Integral to this is whether your systems have an adequate Back Up Strategy. Alternatively, simply call CJAZ and we will audit, plan and execute your Risk Management Regime for you.
Have a question or need some friendly advice?
Feel free to give us a call on 020 3950 0360 or email us at info@cjaz.co.uk.