Cybercriminals grow bolder by the day, forcing businesses to develop creative tactics to combat hackers’ increasingly sophisticated attacks. Unfortunately, some businesses may be inadvertently increasing their cybersecurity risks and leaving their operations open to network and systems intruders. Businesses that understaff, underbudget and fail to plan for inevitable cybersecurity attacks leave themselves in poor shape to properly respond to one, let alone prevent it from happening in the first place.

Key Takeaways:

• Failure to properly staff your business with enough IT employees can create increased risk for and severity of security breaches
• Without the necessary team in place, data breaches or other digital attacks can go unnoticed, allowing the cybercriminal unfettered access to your systems
• Outdated technology can create vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit to gain unauthorized access to your network and sensitive data
• A reactive cybersecurity response system leaves your organization open to costly data breaches that require a lengthy recovery period that interrupts normal business processes

Do You Have Enough IT Staff to Protect Your Business?

In the case of a cybersecurity breach, the response must be immediate so your team can take the proper steps to contain the threat, expel it and investigate to determine what has been affected. A swift and firm response is critical to minimize the impact of an attack to get your business back to normal operations as soon as possible.

If IT staff is limited, fewer people are available to monitor network systems or security logs to notice potential security breaches. Cyberattacks, particularly subtle and sophisticated attacks, can be overlooked, giving those malicious actors time to cause even more damage and corrupt your systems.

An understaffed IT team may also need to delay patch deployment and updates, leaving security vulnerabilities cybercriminals can use to gain unauthorized access to systems or steal sensitive data. As workers exit your company, their credentials and access privileges should be revoked, but this step can slide through the cracks when small teams are stretched to their limits.

Cybersecurity awareness training for employees outside the IT team may also be lacking, potentially leading to staff members engaging in risky behaviors, which can cause costly data breaches or malware infections. Having a workforce that’s able to recognize threats such as phishing, vishing and social engineering attacks is the first step towards protecting your company against potential threats.

If hiring more workers isn’t possible, reinforce your technology team to shore up your cybersecurity vulnerabilities by outsourcing some technology needs to an outsourced IT partner. Utilizing a third-party provider can help your organization’s technology team track, repel and recover from cyber threats.

Is Your Technology Budget Moving You Forward or Holding You Back?

Allocating too small of a budget can also lead to increased cybersecurity risks. Investing in your company’s cybersecurity system isn’t a one-and-done approach. Rather, it’s an ongoing, but utterly necessary, expense. Consider the age of your equipment and the last time you updated your security systems. Has your technology become outdated or insufficient to face modern cybersecurity threats? When was the last time you upgraded your endpoint protection software or firewall? Preventing a data breach is much easier than dealing with the aftermath of a successful cyberattack, which can cause your company to lose both data and its reputation, leading to a lengthy and expensive recovery.

Is Your Cybersecurity Strategy Proactive or Reactive?

The best way to prevent a cyberattack is to be proactive. Without proper advance planning, it’s impossible for a business to be proactive about protecting itself from network intrusions or other hacking incidents. Instead, a lack of a plan forces businesses to be reactive, responding only to cyberattacks either already in progress or that have been completed. This is the worst possible response to cybersecurity threats as it gives criminals time to infiltrate your network and it could potentially take your team too long to recognize the intrusion, giving the intruder more time to steal data and potentially leave unpleasant surprises behind that can cause even more trouble down the road.

Anders Technology works with businesses to devise a comprehensive and full-coverage cybersecurity plan to keep your company’s data protected and prevent cyberattacks before they begin. For more information about how we can help your business protect itself from cyber threats, as well as the associated fees, contact Anders below.