What are the costs and benefits of developing cybersecurity programs in business?
Every day we expose ourselves to potential risk, be it crossing a street, or driving a vehicle. We are taught from an early age to try and mitigate risk wherever we can, that can be done by looking both ways before crossing and only using crosswalks, or by wearing a seatbelt. When it comes to running your own business, that same kind of risk management strategies can been often be seen, such as installing a security system to guard against property losses or avoiding transactions with potentially dubious customers. But how do you handle the ever-growing risk of falling victim to a cybercrime? Assuming that I was the owner and operator of a small business wanting to assess my risk’s and vulnerabilities as it relates to cybersecurity, the first thing I would want to do is try and manage and mitigate my potential risk as much as possible.
That begins with me determining what information my business is generating, storing, and using in its day to day operations. This will allow me to determine what information is critical to keep safe and focus primarily on that for the time being. I also need to find out just how much that information is worth to me, how would it affect me if it was inadvertently leaked to the public, or if it was altered in some way and was now no longer accurate, or if my customers could no longer access it. Now that I have some perspective on what kind of data I’m generating and understand its value and potential risk, next I need to develop an accurate inventory of where all this information is being stored, accessed, processed, and transmitted. Understanding this information will help me determine what security measures need to be in place to ensure that the information remains protected. Next I’m going to want to try and get an understanding of my vulnerabilities and my threats, depending on the industry I’m working in, I may have threats that are specific to my business or field of work, or even just my type of business. Understanding this information can allow me to further identify vulnerable areas and help me develop strategies to protect business against them.
The benefits of this kind of self-assessment and risk mitigation cannot be over stated, while it has the potential to be both costly and time consuming initially, understanding where your weak areas are and taking proactive measures to address them has the potential to save you a significant amount of money in the long term. You can walk across the street ever day without looking both ways and never get hit, or you could do it once and end up in the hospital, but why take the risk to begin with? Addressing your businesses potential cyber security risks is no different.
How can you tell if your computer is safe?
Nowadays it can be difficult, if not impossible, to determine whether or not your computer is 100% secure, but there are some things that you can do to help ensure that you are as secure as you possibly can be all things considered. If you want to tell whether your computer is safe, the first you want to do is invest in commercial anti-malware software. It will likely be fairly apparent to you if your computer isn’t performing as it should be. Problems such as slow computer performance, unexpected pop-ups, new applications installed on your computer without you ever downloading them, frequent crashes, and error messages. These kinds of issues are indicative of a compromised system. As previously stated, problems such as these can usually be addressed and resolved by anti-malware software. Anti-malware software works by automatically detecting and intercepting malicious software detected on your computer, and then separates it from any legitimate applications to prevent damage to the computer. Anti-malware software comes in a variety of different forms and is produced by a variety of companies, with a little bit of research you can find one that suits your budget and provides you with the appropriate levels of protection. But even with the best anti-malware software, it is still possible to come across malware that makes it past your defenses. The only sure way to ensure that your computer is truly “safe”, is by having a fresh installation of the computers operating system and keeping isolated from the internet.
References
How to Tell If Your Computer Has a Virus and What to Do About It. (2019, June 05). Retrieved October 15, 2020, from https://staysafeonline.org/blog/how-to-tell-if-your-computer-has-a-virus-what-to-do-about-it/