Looking back on 2022, it’s clear that any organization of any size can become the victim of cyber crime, even if with some cybersecurity measures in place. Internal threats, ransomware, and malicious actors are everywhere, and without best practices in place, you can essentially guarantee that you are leaving yourself vulnerable to attacks. Whether more comprehensive threat detection is your priority in 2023 or adapting your current practices to the work-from-home and hybrid landscape is your latest goal, then we have a variety of best practices to help make cybersecurity easier for your company in the new year.
Whether it’s been a month, a quarter, or a year since you last reviewed your network security controls, there’s no better time for a refresh like the new year. By reviewing your controls or creating a schedule to do so, you add another necessary step to your audit process. This can include everything from ensuring your VPN gateways still keep up with your hybrid working arrangement to deploying new network security software, or even finding a new MSSP for the new year.
While your team members may be your biggest weak point, they can also be your first line of defense with certain security risks. In most organizations, a cybersecurity approach focused on the technology involved isn’t enough because of the human element involved that malicious actors target and exploit. Instead, fostering a people-centric security allows your employees and team members to act as the initial security perimeter, and educates them on the proper security measures applicable to your needs.
With work-from-home and hybrid work arrangements becoming the norm, one of your highest priorities should be to establish security policies and procedures, no matter where people may be working from. Provide WFH team members with steps they can take to ensure that other members of their household don’t see or have access to their work computer or any business-related information that you deem sensitive data or personal customer information.
As convenient as IoT devices make our work days, managing what—if any–sensitive information they can access is a challenge every operation faces. Every security camera, automated door lock, and piece of smart office equipment is a potential attack vector that, if compromised, could allow a hacker to access and utilize your company’s vital data. Implementing a penetration testing procedure specifically with your IoT devices and pairing it with device-specific deployment processes are helpful practices to adopt moving into the new year.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) is not a brand-new practice in cybersecurity, but as technology continues to advance, it’s become an identity management necessity in an advanced security strategy. MFA is the added layer of security that requires users to confirm their identity via a security token, fingerprint, etc. that makes it so malicious actors cannot compromise the system through accessing a password. If industry giants like Google can get their users to adopt MFA, then any organization can implement it into their cybersecurity approach.
One of the best practices you can implement or upgrade in the new year is to manage your users and know who is connecting to your network. While privileged users are given the opportunity to access and steal information without your knowledge, third-party actors are granted the access to your resources that could lead to a supply chain attack. Monitoring both types of users’ actions–even if you trust them–can help you protect your data from breaches and proactively detect malicious activity.
Whether you’re currently running audits in response to the strange action of a team member or to be proactive in your cybersecurity approach, you need to ensure you have and hold yourself to a consistent audit schedule and process in 2023. When your goal is to compile comprehensive audits, you need to collect data via various sources regarding both privileged and end users’ activities so you can find your weak points or root causes of security events.
As we enter the new year with new goals for cybersecurity awareness and strategic approaches, the investment into a company’s security should take priority moving forward. Once an organization has objectives and a plan for implementing new security measures or the resources to upgrade their existing processes, their opportunity to compete with others in their market increases. To keep cybersecurity a scalable and sustainable goal throughout 2023, it may be time to bring on an MSSP like Omega to tailor your security to your unique needs and automate your security protocols accordingly. Contact us to learn more today.
