What Business Leaders Get Wrong About Protecting Their Organisations Online

Cybersecurity is one of the most important considerations in modern business. Not only do breaches significantly undermine efficiency and production, but they can also permanently damage your standing in the community.

The problem is that the people who make the biggest decisions in companies generally don’t actually have a background in cybersecurity. Consequently, they don’t always know how to steer the ship in the right direction.

In this article, we’ll take a look at common cybersecurity mistakes and how to fix them.

Mistake #1: Focusing Only on Software

Here’s the thing: cybersecurity software is actually very good. It’s why most people at home don’t have to think very much about what they do online at all. The majority of considerations are taken care of for you. Your browser, once it’s been installed with a good firewall, will automatically block certain websites and identify hacking behavior immediately.

Organisations should absolutely have great firewall protection. It’s a good primary method of keeping yourself safe. However, it’s also an incomplete one.

Here’s a fact: the majority of cybersecurity breaches are actually the result of human error. If you aren’t regularly reminding your staff of what’s expected, they’ll probably get a lot of things wrong.

Mistake #2: You Don’t Focus Enough on Training

Continuing education is an important element of good cybersecurity. Otherwise, your staff won’t even know what to look out for. Social engineering schemes are one of the most common sources of breaches, and they’ve never been harder to detect.

What used to be a relatively transparent, subject-free email from an African prince is now a very careful deepfake. Phishing emails now typically have the appearance of having come from brands you know and trust. For example, you might get a message that looks like it came from Amazon. The email will tell you to follow a link to cancel a purchase you’ve just made.

Ordinarily, you probably know that major companies don’t send you instructions for how to cancel a purchase the moment you make a transaction. Why would they? But when you see a bill for $400, you’re probably not thinking straight.

It helps to carefully verify a URL before following a link. If you’re ever in doubt as to whether or not a message came from the source it claims to be from, you can always reach out to the customer service department of the company. They’ll usually be able to very quickly determine if the message is real.

Why is this important? For one thing, many of the biggest breaches you’ve ever heard of occurred in circumstances similar to the ones described above. For another, it’s possible for a cyber criminal to get in through these means, and lurk quietly in the background for years without being noticed.

Because social engineering schemes happen so quietly, they are often dangerously difficult to detect.

Mistake #3: You’re Not Regularly Auditing for Unusual Activity

That’s another thing. When businesses aren’t constantly reviewing their organisation’s internal cyber health, it’s very easy to miss things. As referenced in the last heading, cyber intrusion can go undetected for a very long time. Naturally, the longer a cybercriminal has access to your network, the more damage they can do.

Regular audits can help catch problems and minimise the ramifications. Not only does this potentially reduce the time you might spend recovering from an attack, but it can also limit exposure—a factor that is particularly important when it comes to maintaining a good relationship with the community you serve.

Mistake #4: You’re Not Leading from the Top Down

It’s also important to make cybersecurity a top-down consideration. That means that your leadership, all the way up to the CEO, is demonstrating good cybersecurity practices. It’s not just a rule; it’s a standard that needs to be modeled.

It’s important to both lead by example and clarify expectations through carefully developed systems.

Mistake #5: You Haven’t Systemised Your approach to Cybersecurity

Speaking of systems, what is cybersecurity protocol without structures to support it? This is the part of the process that tends to irritate people, particularly employees, but it’s also quite possibly the most impactful move you can make.

Without systems, you are relying on employee memory.

What do these processes look like in practice? Multi-factor authentication, secure servers, encrypted email, and strict requirements concerning what devices employees can use for work-related tasks and where they can work from. Even an unsecured Wi-Fi network can be enough to allow a bad actor in.

By creating systems designed to account for every possible scenario, you significantly reduce your risk exposure.

Mistake #6: You’re Not Doing it with Professional Help

Finally, it’s important to keep in mind that cybersecurity is an actual profession. To go about it effectively, you need to get the right kind of support.

Large organisations can justify hiring a full-time employee. Yes, they may cost you six figures a year, but for some organisations, a single breach can cost millions, making this worthwhile.

If a full-time employee is not in the budget, that’s okay. You can still achieve strong results through a consultant.

They are generally relatively inexpensive—particularly when compared to the risk reduction they provide. They can also be retained for regular consultations should you feel that ongoing help.

Something is Always Better Than Nothing

Some organisations feel so overwhelmed by all of the additional steps that cybersecurity can take that they stay stuck with little more than a firewall.

Don’t do nothing just because it seems impossible to do everything.

If you can’t afford to hire even a consultant right now, that’s okay. You can still develop systems, provide employee trainings, and lead by example. Other things will come eventually.

Do what you can today. It’s very much worth the time and effort.