Cybersafety Connections October 2021 Vol #40
- A look back at October 2021 .
- The cybersafety fight for Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBS) and what working for small businesses has taught me.
- The basic controls.
- Challenges to SMBs cybersecurity.
A look back at October 2021
There was a blog post on:
- Remote workers Performance, Productivity, and Protection using both hardware and software infrastructure. Performance, Productivity, and Protection for Remote Workers
- Protecting the C-Suite by keeping Tone at the tone safe. 4 Steps to Protect the C-Suite from cyberattacks
- Cybersecurity that is relevant focused on humans and machines . Is Your Cybersecurity Still Relevant? Natalie Rooney
- All hands on deck with everyone in the organization taking part in an anti-fraud fight All hands on deck.
The Cybersafety fight for SMBS
What spurred me on to start yourcybersafetyadvocate.CPA was seeing how big businesses took action on cybersecurity due to their financial leverage and wondered how SMBs could afford to take action to fight against cyberattacks without breaking the bank. Most of my accounting experience was from working for small businesses.
The Basic Controls
At the basic level before, some inexpensive steps small businesses can implement are;
- Strong password and multi-factor authentication.
- Firewall to protect the network against intruders.
- Regularly update antivirus and other preventive software.
- Implement software patch and updates as soon as it becomes available.
- Back up data at regular intervals and keep backup in a safe place free from human and natural disasters.
- Restrict system access to what is needed to perform the job function.
- Ensure vendors have cybersecurity measures in place.
Some of the challenges of implementing these controls are:
- Lack of data or inexistent bookkeeping may hinder backing up data.
- Outsourcing IT functions to consultants do not relieve the business from cybersecurity.
- SMBs have to manage cash flow and may think cybersecurity is costly. In the event of a breach, cash flow may disappear completely impacting the bottom line.
For cybersecurity that works, we need the involvement of the C-Suite (Tone at the top), workers at all levels, human capital plus machines, basically all hands on deck.
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