What Are Cyber Risks And How Can You Help Your Business Avoid Them?

In this day and age, almost all business is conducted through and reliant on the use of technological tools. This reliance causes modern businesses of all kinds to face what are known as cyber risks. You might be wondering “what exactly are cyber risks?” Cyber riskcommonly refers to the risk and loss of any financial information or damage to reputation resulting from the failure of technology systems. Easy access to sensitive information makes organizations vulnerable to risks such as data theft, ransomware and corporate espionage. Without the right preventative measures, your company could be the next victim of cyber crime. Luckily, there are measures your business can take to lock down your systems and keep thieves out. Here are a few tips to decrease your company’s exposure to cyber risk.

Determine your risk level

As a general rule, the more extensive your business’ digital operations are, the higher your cyber risk will be. Therefore, the first step to take when trying to protect your company is determining where the risk lies and how severe it may be. A few elements that increase cyber risk include hiring remote workers, lack of network administrative privileges, a lax password policy, lost information in a network disaster and lack of reviewing security policies every year. Understanding which of these points are weak for your company can go a long way in determining a response plan.

Lock down all device systems

After you’ve determined your points of risk, the next logical step is to lock those down to keep cyber thieves out. From answering a video conference on your tablet to instant chatting on your desktop, the ability to switch devices seamlessly helps employees work more effectively. One easy way to utilize multiple devices for business is by implementing features from a unified communications offering, such as those options from 8x8. Another great benefit of utilizing UCaaS tools is the security measures built in to the program that will keep your information safe on all devices.

Establish admin and non-admin access

To help keep your company information in only the right hands, grant access to a predetermined group of personnel. Consider releasing administration access to those in leadership positions, which increases their control over programming and settings on company devices. For other personnel, non-admin accounts have the ability to use programs, but their ability to make edits will be limited.

Use smart passwords

The use of weak employee passwords is a risk to the security of your company’s whole digital system by making email accounts easier for criminals to hack into. Encourage your employees to create strong passwords that include a combination of lower and upper case letters, special characters and don’t allude to any personal information. Keep in mind that setting strong passwords once isn’t the be-all, end-all as they need to be updated regularly. Set a standard amount of time that passwords need to be reset a year, such as quarterly or monthly, and require all employees to update theirs.

To best protect your company’s data, be sure to both identify weaknesses and take precautions to minimize them. Keep in mind that taking precautions before an attack will lessen the damage experienced, and implementing these tips is a good place to start.