4 Key Services Your Cyber Security Company Should Provide
A cybersecurity company helps you lower the risks of attacks on your business. Read this blog for the key services a security company should offer you.
Published on: October 21st, 2022
Last edited: September 25th, 2023
Cyber security has become every business’ big concern. Issues like following best security practices, monitoring, structure audits and patching are things business owners and managers have to think about constantly. Increased digitisation and work from home plans are part of the reasons this has become the case.
With the ever-growing statistics on businesses losing financially compromising critical data and tainting reputations, the need for quality cyber security services can’t be overstated. Engaging a cyber security company is the best way for businesses to tackle cyber security concerns. (1) (2)
However, there’s still a lot of ambiguity about the level or kind of services that make the right security solution for your business. Many security companies have emerged to keep up with the demand for the services, but not all offer what businesses need. This article looks at the vital services you should look for from cyber security companies Melbourne.
What Is a Cyberattack?
A cyberattack is a deliberate attempt by an attacker to exploit and compromise the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of IT systems to target a company or its employees.
Cyberattackers use illegal tools and methods to cause damage and disruptions or to obtain unauthorised access to networks, computers, devices, applications, and databases. Cyberattacks can come in a wide variety of hacks and scams, such as:
- Malware
- Ransomware
- Injection attacks
- Session management attacks
- Phishing
- Service denial
- Privilege escalations
- Unpatched and vulnerable software
- Remote code execution
What Is the Difference Between a Cyberattack and A Security Breach?
A cyberattack is an attempt to compromise the security of a system. A security breach is the successful event/incident in which a cyber-attack result in a compromise of IT systems or the disruption of services.
What is MSSP (managed security service provider)?
A Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP) offers outsourced monitoring and management services for security devices and systems. These services encompass a range of offerings, including managed firewall, intrusion detection, virtual private network (VPN), vulnerability scanning, and anti-viral services. MSSPs operate high-availability security operation centers, either within their own facilities or through data center providers, to deliver round-the-clock support. The aim is to help enterprises minimize the need to hire, train, and retain a large in-house security team while maintaining effective security measures.
Risk assessments and audits
Except for the businesses in the security field, all other businesses’ main goal is delivering stellar services or selling quality goods to their customers. While they may be concerned about their business’ cyber security, they’re not experts in the field and don’t know the nuances of it. They may not be aware of the risks and gaps in the security of their business or what steps to take about it.
Similarly, businesses need to keep up with the various industry security regulations and guidelines concerning the protection of customer data and privacy. When looking for cyber security companies Australia, consider one that can proactively assess and identify potential security risks in your business and provide solutions.
The risk assessment services help to identify:
- If your staff are aware of and able to identify security threats presented in various forms such as phishing scams.
- Whether your staff members follow the best security practices.
- How well your business identifies threats and documents and escalates and addresses them internally.
- The most vulnerable points of your security.
Security awareness training
One of the entry points for cyberattacks is your staff. Unfortunately, unlike a system or device, you can’t program people to do or act the way you want them to. That makes them more likely to make errors, deliberately and otherwise, leading to cyberattacks on your business. For instance, a staff member can leave a device logged on in a public place where your company information might be compromised. (3)
Employees need to be educated on topics of cyber security as a means of risk management. Even the best technical defenses could fail if employees perform unintentional actions resulting in a security breach. Raising awareness of internal policies and best practices through classes, online courses, and videos is the best way to reduce the potential of a security violation.
Because of such instances, you want to hire a cyber security company that offers security awareness training to your staff. This helps create awareness of the risks and trains them to follow company policies and cybersecurity best practices. This also helps your teams understand their role in mitigating security threats and breaches.
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Ensure vulnerability management and software patch management
A company’s internal or external IT teams need to perform classification, identification, remediation, and mitigation of the vulnerabilities within all applications and networks that it uses to reduce threats. From time to time, software vendors release updates to patch and mitigate these vulnerabilities. Thus, it is important to install these updates to protect a company’s assets.
Hackers are constantly devising new ways to penetrate business data and systems every day. Your business should be able to keep up if you don’t want to fall prey to their tactics. To effectively protect your business from these emerging threats, you can work with a security partner aware of the latest threats, techniques and practices to keep your business safe.
This allows your business to always stay ahead of new threats by making the necessary adjustments and patching before a threat can occur. In addition, being aware of particular threats makes your response to them quicker, limiting the level of damage they might cause to your business.
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Backup and disaster recovery
Finally, another key service you should look for in cyber security companies is backup and disaster recovery and implement a robust business continuity and incident response.
As much as your business does its best to avoid threats, disasters can still happen. What would you do if you lost access to your premises, systems and devices, or if you lost your data? Your business shouldn’t come to a standstill.
That’s why organisations need to have a solid business continuity and incident response plan which will assist in effectively responding to cyber-attacks and security breaches while ensuring critical business systems remain online.
However, without a proper backup and recovery plan, your business will face a long and daunting journey of rebuilding from scratch. Many companies lose their reputation and financial strength for taking too long to stand up after disaster strikes. Some never get back up at all. Backup and recovery services keep you from sweating over what would happen if a disaster occurred. (4)
When you have the proper support from security partners consistently backing up your data, you’re not scared of losing it all or being unable to continue with business operations. In case a rampant ransomware attack occurs, or if a storm destroys your premises and devices, business continuity is unaffected.
10 Cyber Security Practices to Create a Secure Modern Workplace
In the context of Australian businesses, establishing a secure modern workplace involves implementing a range of strategies and solutions to protect against evolving cyber threats. Here’s how Australian enterprises can bolster their cybersecurity efforts:
- Embrace Advanced Threat Defense Solutions: Consider adopting cutting-edge security products designed to detect and thwart hidden threats that evade conventional preventive security tools. These solutions focus on specific attack surfaces, vulnerabilities, and exploits, safeguarding against persistent footholds, ransomware, and other cyberattacks. Combining automated detection with human threat hunters provides comprehensive protection.
- Prioritise Cybersecurity Training and Awareness: Educate employees on cybersecurity practices to minimise the risk of security breaches caused by unintentional actions. Offer training through classes, online courses, and videos to promote awareness of internal policies and best practices, reinforcing the human element of cyber security.
- Conduct Comprehensive Risk Assessments: Perform formal risk assessments to identify and prioritise valuable assets based on their impact when compromised. This process guides resource allocation, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively to secure critical assets.
- Implement Effective Vulnerability and Patch Management: Prioritise vulnerability management by identifying, remediating, and mitigating vulnerabilities within applications and networks. Keep software up to date by promptly installing vendor-released patches to reduce the risk of exploitation.
- Apply the Principle of Least Privilege: Limit personnel permissions to the minimum necessary for their roles, reducing the potential impact of security breaches. Implement two-factor authentication for personnel with unrestricted permissions.
- Enforce Secure Password Policies: Mandate the use of strong, periodically changed passwords that adhere to industry standards. Encourage the use of password managers for better password management and security.
- Regular Data Backups: Ensure daily backups to safeguard sensitive data against loss or compromise during security incidents. Reliable data backups are crucial for rapid recovery and continuity.
- Perform Ongoing Security Reviews: Conduct periodic security assessments, including penetration testing, dark web monitoring, and architecture design reviews. Identify and prioritize security vulnerabilities for timely mitigation.
- Implement Robust Encryption: Utilise strong encryption algorithms for data at rest and in transit. Secure all web applications and software with SSL/TLS to maintain data confidentiality.
- Develop Business Continuity and Incident Response Plans: Establish solid business continuity and incident response plans tailored to Australian business needs. These plans ensure effective responses to cyberattacks and security breaches while maintaining critical business operations.
By focusing on these strategies, Australian businesses can build a secure modern workplace that defends against cyber threats, safeguards valuable assets, and ensures business continuity in an ever-evolving digital landscape.
Conclusion
Cyber security threats are now part of the everyday concerns you have to deal with. As business workflows become more digital, you have many more areas to shift your security focus to. This includes devices, systems, networks and software. Therefore, you need cyber security companies that provide all the key services for assessment, intelligence, awareness training, protection and recovery, should disaster strike.
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Reference
- “ACSC Annual Cyber Threat Report 2020-21″, Source: https://www.cyber.gov.au/acsc/view-all-content/reports-and-statistics/acsc-annual-cyber-threat-report-2020-21
- “The Human Factor in IT Security: How Employees are Making Businesses Vulnerable from Within”, Source: https://www.kaspersky.com/blog/the-human-factor-in-it-security/
- “4/10 Australian SMEs fallen victim to cyber-attacks since pandemic”, Source: https://securitybrief.com.au/story/4-10-australian-smes-fallen-victim-to-cyber-attacks-since-pandemic
- “Crisis management and business continuity planning”, Source: https://www.infoentrepreneurs.org/en/guides/crisis-management-and-business-continuity-planning/
