What Is Cybersecurity? Everything You Need to Know to Keep Your Company Secure

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting your devices, networks, data and other elements of your IT environment from malicious attacks.

Your data is one of your organization’s most valuable assets. Today, companies rely on their data to inform decisions across every level and department – from marketing campaigns to investments, product development to customer support. Collecting, storing, analyzing and applying this data is essential to operations.

But, because much of the data businesses collect is highly sensitive, it’s also valuable to cybercriminals – which puts your organization at risk.

Hackers exploit vulnerabilities in organizations’ IT environments to steal, alter or destroy their data for financial gain – and they’re becoming more sophisticated. In an era where everything relies on technology, organizations can no longer afford to let cybersecurity fall to chance.

Furthermore, when a company becomes a victim of a cyberattack, they’re not only at risk of losing their precious data – they could also lose customers and revenue to downtime. And if they’re not following data protection rules and regulations, like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), they could risk paying hefty fines. Depending on the extent of damages, a single breach could destroy your company’s finances.

By staying up-to-date on cybersecurity trends and committing to cybersecurity compliance, it's less likely that you'll become a victim.

So how can you begin successfully protecting your data from data breaches?

Here are four steps you should begin taking immediately:

• Encrypt your data: Data encryption is a process that transforms sensitive data into complex code. This way, if an attacker steals the data, they won’t be able to use it. It’s good practice to encrypt all the information entering or leaving your company.
• Back up your data: One of the best proactive measures you can take is to back up all of your data and store it elsewhere. This way, if your systems are taken offline, or hackers steal your data and hold it for ransom, you’ll still have access to everything you need to keep your organization operational.
• Educate your workforce: Team member errors/negligence is one of the leading causes in most data breaches – especially when it comes to phishing attacks. Taking time to educate your workforce on best practices, how to identify possible breaches, what to do if they make a mistake and whom to contact in the event of an emergency, is one of the most powerful steps you can take toward protecting your environment.
• Secure hardware systems: Every device on your network – from computers to printers, mobile phones to Internet of Things (IoT) devices – represents another endpoint that can be exploited by cybercriminals. That’s why it’s crucial you secure systems that have access to sensitive information with multi-factor authentication.

A strong cybersecurity protection strategy requires a significant investment of time, energy and technical know-how that businesses frequently feel they don’t have. Often, the costs associated with these efforts prevent organizations from prioritizing security. But the potential loss far outweighs any investment in protection.

For example, the global average cost of a single data breach is $3.92 million, according to data from IBM. And small- to medium-sized businesses spend an average of $1.43 million on damaged or stolen IT assets following an incident, according to data from the Ponemon Institute, the pre-eminent research center dedicated to privacy, data protection and information security policy. For many companies, this level of financial loss could be ruinous.

By taking preventive measures, you can bolster information system security and help your company avoid a catastrophic disaster.