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Cyber readiness is the ability for businesses to identify, prevent, and respond to cyberthreats in a timely manner. Most businesses know they should have cyber readiness, but they might not know the proper steps that need to be taken to achieve this. As a result, businesses deal with serious damages following a cyberattack that can affect both their finances and reputation.
To ensure that your business is prepared and protected in the face of a cyberattack, we’ve put together a checklist with seven tips to get you started.
Seven Tips to Ensure Cyber Readiness
Have you done your due diligence and performed risk evaluations of your current cybersecurity? Running tests can help find vulnerabilities and risk evaluations in your systems that you can address prior to a cyberattack.
Has your staff undergone any cyber awareness training? Making sure your staff is trained with the proper tools and content can help avoid risks.
Have you created an inventory of your software and hardware assets? Further, do you have a patch management process in place to automate updates of these assets? Having an inventory of hardware and software assets will let you know what’s at risk in your network. Moreover, it can help you know where updates and patches need to take place.
Do you use multi-factor authentication (MFA) for access to sensitive networks or systems? Multi-factor authentication is a core security feature to establish as part of your cyber readiness. Do your employees work from home, or can they access sensitive data outside of the office? You’re going to want to enable a strong MFA to help streamline access to sensitive data across all apps and channels.
Have you created an incident response plan explaining the steps to be taken in the event of a cyberattack? A well-written cyber incident response plan will ensure you’re prepared to handle the repercussions of an attack. This plan should be comprehensive and updated regularly, noting the key players and communication tier if something were to go amiss.
Have you reviewed the cyber readiness of your third-party vendors? Do they have security and privacy policies in place that meet industry standards? You know that you are protected, but do the third-party vendors that you contract with offer the same protection in return?
Have you followed the NIST protocol? The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has created a framework for your business to follow to ensure you have the utmost cyber security. Following the NIST checklist will set you up with the best cyber readiness practices and procedures.
To Conclude
The world of cybersecurity is ever-changing…is your business prepared? Pavelcomm can help set your company up for success by performing a cyber readiness assessment. Let us help you make sense of what you need to be cyber ready.
Looking to learn more about cyber readiness? Check out more of our blogs in our resources section