Keeping your business secure is a no brainer. After all, why would someone go through the sheer effort, hard work, and determination of creating a business and not go to the same impressive lengths to protect it?

There are many areas to consider when it comes to security in business, and while most businesses will require a mixture of security applications, the one thing almost every business has in common now is that some sectors will operate online.

One of the common issues with cybersecurity is that businesses are not making sure everything is up to date. When a security system is not updated, it will not be equipped to deal with the risk of security breaches and cyber threats, both of which are forever advancing and changing.

This piece will cover a range of cybersecurity topics which include the basics of cybersecurity, what it is, and some of the reasons why cybersecurity is so important for a business. It will also, critically, examine what businesses need to be aware of in 2020. This cybersecurity lowdown can help companies make sure they are doing everything possible to be sufficiently protected from the threat of a breach in security or cyber-attack.

 

Understanding the Basics of Cyber Security

It would be hard to know what is best for a company when it comes to cybersecurity without knowing what cybersecurity entails. It is important for businesses to understand the basics of cybersecurity to know how to begin implementing it as a strategy.

Cybersecurity consists of three fundamental concepts — confidentiality, integrity, and availability. These concepts form what is known as a CIA triad, a model that is designed to guide the important policies of cybersecurity.

“Be sure to educate employees on security measures such as generating strong passwords and password software”

 

Confidentiality and Cyber Security

Confidentiality depends upon the rules that limit the access to information. This part of the cybersecurity triad uses procedures that can restrict any sensitive or confidential data from being accessed by a cyber-attack or hackers.

It is not uncommon for different sectors of a business to have access to different sets of data or information. This is the same for varying positions of authority where certain levels of authority are permitted access to information that lower levels of authority are not.

When it comes to data in business, it is crucial that training is undertaken by employees to become educated on security measures such as generating strong passwords and password software, the sharing of information, and other procedures that can help secure accounts.

For those that are really interested in advancing their career in a lucrative business, a data science masters online course would be extremely beneficial to all sectors of business. There are also pieces of training that can be undertaken on how to transfer information within the company to keep it safe and secure.

Other things to be considered within the realms of cybersecurity are well-established security tools such as data encryption software, two-factor authentication security measures and also biometric verification (such as fingerprint or facial recognition software).

These all work towards employees and a business on the whole having a great base for security.

“Data in transit can either be altered, deleted or accessed illegally, which could produce a whole host of problems for a business”

 

Integrity and Cyber Security

The integrity sector of the cybersecurity triad refers to data staying intact during its transmission. The integrity of the data cannot be compromised during its transmission to ensure that it is not tampered with. Data in transit can either be altered, deleted, or accessed illegally, which could produce a whole host of problems for a business.

There are specific measures that a business can take to ensure the safety of data in transmission. Techniques such as specific user access controls and special file permissions can help keep the integrity of data intact.

There are also tools on offer which can detect breaches in data or any changes that have been made, no matter how slight they may be. Checksums are a common piece of software which are used to analyze a small block of data, checking for any errors or changes made in transition.

Backups have often been seen as a solution to rectify changes in data or information. So, incorporating backups into your business can only be a good thing. There are two types of backups that can be used — either physical copies or the ever growing in popularity ‘cloud-based’ backups. Cloud-based backups are remote server services that can be accessed through many servers to create the cloud space.

“Businesses would benefit from incorporating other extra security measures such as using firewalls”

Availability and Cyber Security

The availability category comes under the maintenance of equipment that is used to transfer data. It is essential that all equipment, hardware, software, and security measures are up to date and maintained. Failure to do so can result in corrupt data and also open up the potential to data breach from a cybersecurity threat or a hacker.

Businesses would benefit from incorporating other extra security measures such as using firewalls, a network security system that both monitors and controls a specific network’s incoming and outgoing traffic under specifically set security guidelines implemented into the firewall.

Proxy servers are also a useful addition to security measures. Other crucial measures for businesses to implement into their security strategy are two back up plans. Make sure to have a disaster recovery plan and also a reliable back-up solution if any cyberattacks do happen.

These factors of cybersecurity offer three critical components that all work together harmoniously to provide the utmost protection for a business against any potential cyber hacks, viruses, or threats.

It is important for any business to incorporate the important points within each sector of confidentiality, integrity, and availability, and make sure that everyone in the business is aware of what these points are, how to integrate them and why it needs to be done.