Why is cyber security important?
Large amounts of organisations of all sizes in the UK now operate online in one way or another and benefit hugely from an online presence whether that is in the form of social media, staff email addresses, banking online or providing an e-commerce platform for their customers.
1. Increasingly sophisticated hacking methods
The constant threat of online cyber-crime is increasing rapidly; and cyber criminals are using more sophisticated methods to gain unauthorised access to business data as each day passes. It’s more important than ever to protect your organisation’s sensitive data. Organisations of all sizes should be aware of the cyber threats they face, the vulnerabilities within their IT Infrastructure and how they can be rectified.
2. Hacking tools are evolving
While well-funded and highly skilled hackers have always posed a significant risk to your organisation, there is now a wide range of available hacking tools and programmes on the internet which cost significantly less. This also means there is also a growing threat from lesser skilled individuals wanting to infiltrate your organisation’s IT Infrastructure and gain access to sensitive business data. The commercialisation of cybercrime activities worldwide has made it easy for anyone to obtain the resources they need to launch damaging attacks against organisations of any size, such as the ever present Ransomware threat.
3. More personal information is being stored and shared
Statistics from the 2018 Cyber Security Breaches Survey that was issued by the UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport showed that nearly half of all organisations experienced a data breach or cyber-attack in 2018. These data breaches or cyber-attacks have all resulted in loss of files and data, damaged systems and more. Most cyber criminals look for poorly protected and vulnerable IT Infrastructures as well as organisations who hold sensitive data on their employees and clients.
Lack of focus surrounding your organisation’s Cyber Security Strategy can be greatly damaging to your organisation considering the direct financial and reputational costs if a cyber-attack was to occur.
4. Rising cost of data breaches
Aside from these direct impacts, there are also legal implications to be considered such as the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which was introduced in May 2018. There can be significant fines if organisations are found to be non-compliant with GDPR. These fines are much higher than the preceding Data Protection Act 1998. The Data Protection Act 1998’s maximum fine was £500,000, however, under GDPR fines can be 4% of an organisation’s annual global turnover or €20 million – whichever is greater.
Infinity Group have a team of GDPR certified Consultants who provide GDPR audits for many of our clients as well as offering an ongoing GDPR Consultancy service.
What does a Cyber Security strategy involve?
Implementing a robust cyber security strategy revolves around three pillars which are people, processes and technology. Our experienced Cyber Security Consultants will work with you to devise a cyber security strategy that suits your organisation now as well as in the future, as we understand that no two organisations have the same needs. These will be clear and prioritised steps that tell you exactly what to do and how to make a necessary foundation for effective strategy implementation. One way to help your organisation prevent cyber-threats is giving your employees regular and updated training.
Our Cyber Security Consultants have an in-depth understanding of the constantly evolving threat landscape and take a risk-based approach to identifying how it impacts each individual organisation.
How can I keep my organisation’s IT Infrastructure secure?
Having a Cyber Security framework such as Cyber Essentials to work towards can also be beneficial for your organisation. Having key goals within your organisation can help ensure that the risk of a data breach is minimal. Cyber Essentials is backed by the UK Government and National Cyber Security Centre. By being Cyber Essentials certified, this outwardly shows your commitment to cyber security, demonstrating to your business partners, regulators and suppliers that you take cyber and information security seriously.
As remote working and use of personal devices become more commonplace, it is essential for organisations to implement a BYOD strategy to avoid breaches of company data. Microsoft’s Enterprise Mobility & Security Suite (EM+S) coupled with Intune ensures that this data remains safe across all devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets. Should an employee use their own device for business purposes, Microsoft Intune provides complete separation of business and personal data. Therefore, organisations are unable to read personal messages and users are unable to copy business data into a personal app.
Enterprise Mobility & Security suite also helps facilitate the journey to Digital Transformation and is also part of our own Cloud Productivity and Security suite, Unite.
If your organisation has been affected by a Malware virus, which are most commonly delivered via email attachments, this can lead to significant business downtime should you not have a Disaster Recovery and Backup solution in place. Malware is a code or script that has been specifically designed to harm or perform illegitimate actions on devices, data, hosts or even entire business networks. Malware attacks are increasingly common on mobile devices, Microsoft Defender ATP for Android prevents these attacks and will soon be rolled out to IOs.
Sophos is the one of the most trusted names in security software and by protecting the end point, we will ensure that your systems remain Malware free and your data is kept secure at all times. By also implementing a Disaster Recovery and Backup solution, by either Cloud, Hybrid or onsite means, we are able to get your business operations back and running quickly by regaining access to data, connectivity, hardware and software.
Infinity Group are partners with IT industry leaders such as Microsoft, Cisco Meraki, Sophos and many more. We also hold three major ISO certifications including ISO 27001 for Information Security Management Standard as independently awarded by the British Assessment Bureau which shows our commitment to a high level of corporate governance.
Infinity Group are experienced Cyber Security Consultants and IT Security experts. We are also one of the top 200 Microsoft Gold Partners in the UK. If you are interested in Cyber Security Consultancy or IT Security strategy implementation, please get in touch to find out more.
