How to Keep Your Business Compliant

by | Cybersecurity

Nearly every business, even if you’re not in a heavily regulated industry, has established rules, regulations, laws, and guidelines that must be followed. Failure to remain in compliance can be catastrophic for you and your staff. Perhaps the most critical area of compliance is IT network security. The data you store, the operational procedures that rely on technology, and even partnerships with third-party network and application partners are all at risk, so how you can keep your business compliant?

Compliance is in place to prevent security breaches and give guidelines for what to do if a breach does occur. It would be very difficult to remain compliant without an expert on staff or under partnership. With the rapid advancements in technology and increased motivation for bad actors to attack your business in more sophisticated ways, compliance needs dedicated resources. Here are a just a few questions as you begin to determine where your compliance stands today:

  • Does my business have regularly updated antivirus software and is my network protected by a firewall?
  • What data is my business encrypting?
  • Do I have a system in place to manage network-connected devices?
  • Are there disaster recovery plans in place and do I use backup solutions?
  • Is there a business continuity strategy?
  • Do I have employee training in regard to security?

After you’ve answered these questions, you’ll have a better idea of what needs to be done to ensure your business stays compliant. Working with an MSP can help you source and maintain the right technology and equipment to help you fill in any gaps. An MSP will help you assess your current infrastructure and can help you implement compatible and right-sized solutions for your business including:

Security Awareness Training: According to a study by IBM, 95% of cyber security breaches stem from human error. By and large, it is not malicious employee activity, it’s just the hazard of busy, distracted staff who may be unaware of how critical their intervention is. Leading your businesses with a cyber-secure culture can go a long way in protecting your staff from critical errors. Implementing security awareness training for your employees will help them learn about attack methods, red flags to be aware of, and will help them be more alert as they work throughout their day. Without proper training, you cannot expect your employees to be inherently cyber-secure.

Antivirus Software and Firewalls: Antivirus software and firewalls are only as good as their latest update. Whatever solutions you choose must receive and implement timely patches to keep your business secure.

Email Spam Filter: E-mail-based phishing attacks are one of the easiest ways for a cybercriminal to gain access to your company’s valuable information. All it takes is one distracted or uninformed click on the wrong link to compromise the entire network. With a filter, you can worry less about your employees accidentally clicking on a sketchy e-mail because many attempts will never make it to their mailbox in the first place.

Strong Security Password Practices: Make sure employee onboarding and security awareness training includes tips and strategies for creating strong passwords. Oftentimes, people will use the same passwords for every account, which can leave your business vulnerable if one of their other accounts is compromised. Implementing Multifactor authentication (MFA) further increases login securing by requiring that the person seeking access authorizes through a second channel or device only they would have access to.

Keeping your business compliant is critical. It helps protect you, everyone who works for you, and everyone who does business with your company. If you need a resource to help you improve your cyber security posture or just want to start with an expert assessment of where you stand today, get in touch.

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