Small businesses are just as at risk from cyber security threats as large enterprises. A common misconception for small businesses is an idea of security through obscurity, that your business is too small to be a target, but unfortunately, this is not the case. Small businesses are attractive targets because they have information that cybercriminals want (access to large amounts of customer data, deal with large sums of money etc.), and they typically have less stringent technological defenses, less awareness of threats, less time and resources to put into cyber security and lack the security infrastructure of larger businesses. They also often work with large organisations, and so they can be used by hackers to target those companies. This makes them an easier target for hackers than bigger organizations.
It is therefore important for small businesses to protect themselves from cyberattacks. However, most business owners cannot afford professional cyber security solutions/services, have limited time to devote to security or are not quite sure where to begin.
This article will share with small business owners on how to begin building a fit for purpose cybersecurity strategy.
Before you can implement a cyber security strategy, you have to take stock of your business and its vulnerabilities to establish your baseline from which to build an effective strategy. This includes:
- Evaluating the threat landscape by understanding the types of vulnerabilities and attacks your organisation or competitors are prone to, followed by prioritising these based on your company’s operations.
- Implement a cyber security maturity framework such as NIST, ISO27001, FFIEC etc. to help you manage cybersecurity risk. This can also be utilised to look ahead to determine future goals and objectives.
- Improve your cyber security by identifying which training, tools and procedures are required to meet your goals and objectives.
- Document the cyber security strategy so all employees are aware of their key roles and responsibilities.
The cyber security strategy should be proactive by focusing on prevention to keep hackers out. You want to stop the cyberattack from happening instead of scrambling to recover once hackers have already gotten into your network.
