Businesses of all sizes face severe cybersecurity threats every day, from targeted, less sophisticated hacking, to sophisticated financial and physical theft, including the attack on the Federal Reserve’s computer system. In response, businesses have all changed the way they’re providing, storing and protecting sensitive information, and have modernized business operations for success. But the change hasn’t come easily, and the complexity of the various security practices is growing. Today, security is an afterthought, and often this results in information being exposed in ways that may be so complex it’s beyond the grasp of today’s cybersecurity professionals. This article examines the current state of information security within the banking sector, and suggests which cybersecurity best practices are appropriate for each industry.

How can I protect my business from cyber attacks?

The most important thing that any business can do to safeguard their business is to implement the most sophisticated security tools available. The following bullet points outline some of the best practices to enhance your own business’ defenses against cyber-attack.

Cyber security must be run by an IT service manager with the right knowledge and technical resources and oversight, all of this in order to be able to avoid a ransomware attack. Using a trusted IT provider helps ensure that you can detect and respond to cyber threats quickly.

A smart business culture depends on a proactive approach, as well as on proactive employee training.

Integration with an outside security team enables IT to identify and address security threats sooner and to avoid future breaches.

Greater transparency within your organization is key to engagement with your customers, the community and the media, but you need to be extremely careful when discussing security on the record.

Use the most secure system with the highest level of support from all vendors.

Cyber security is nothing without a fundamental understanding of the risk factors and attack vectors you face. There is no one risk model that suits every risk-based business scenario.

Define a culture of understanding that you want to create throughout your organization. Get this fundamental perspective first, and then adapt and improve your culture to minimize any risk of attack.

A successful business has a robust plan to deal with cyber attacks and your own IT environment. A cyber attack is a rare event, and shouldn’t affect your business plans or operations. We suggest that you review your security policy and strategy to establish your comprehensive disaster recovery strategy.

If you believe your information technology or business operations have been compromised, call your information security team immediately and work with them to immediately implement a plan of attack and recovery.

There are two different ways to deal with a cyber attack:

The first is to harden and elevate your information technology and business operation, as well as other resources such as networks, resources and staff.

The second is to control your risk and defeat attacks, and clean the environment as quickly as possible, as quickly as is safely possible.

Businesses need to understand the critical risk they face and their exposure to cyber risk.