Global work environments are shifting to remote working as a precaution against the coronavirus pandemic. The limitation of face-to-face interactions is detrimental to numerous sectors, primarily to the hospitality and travel industries. Although establishments in these industries will bounce back once COVID-19 is gone, there’s enough evidence predicting that business transactions will remain as they are now.
A post-coronavirus world will still prefer to use online transactions, primarily due to customer preferences and innovations to digital platforms. This is enough reason to make your temporary adjustments as permanent additions to your operations. Part of establishing your IT systems is maintaining their functionality and security.
Protecting your business’s IT infrastructures
Corporate security goes beyond protecting your physical offices and hardcopy documents. The world is advancing towards paperless transactions and online interfaces. This requires businesses to ensure that their IT structures also have a similar, or even greater, level of protection from potential threats.
If you want to reinforce your IT’s security, here are three tips you should follow:
1. Establish your business’s IT security policies
IT security is necessary to prevent potential threats to your operations. When you’re handling sensitive data, you should ensure that you and your clients’ information are safe and secure. Part of protecting your data is having a rigid security policy through multiple-step authentication. Besides relying on account passwords and email authorisations alone, you should reinforce access to your business’s different parts.
You can use identity confirmation protocols like SMS-delivered PIN codes. Although it’s good to add multiple layers of security, ensure that you’re not making it too convoluted for your staff and customers. Find a reliable balance on extra security and a user-friendly interface.
2. Perform updates and audits to your IT systems
Keeping your business on top of potential cyber-attacks is to maintain strong applications. System updates are a common feature for any digital platform. This is present in anything as simple as your web browsers to your project management software. Updating your IT systems keeps you safe from potential cyber-attacks that are also evolving in line with the digital tool’s development over the years.
Besides keeping your software up to date, you should also perform security audits to find potential vulnerabilities in your IT systems. A cybersecurity audit gives a thorough look at your system’s processes, from password management to firewall security. Since every company’s transactions are different, your cybersecurity requirements will vary. This is why it’s best to consult with IT experts who can steer your IT improvements in the right direction.
3. Craft an incident response plan
Although you may have preventive measures in place, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t anticipate the worst. An incident response plan is a reactive response after sustaining substantial damage from a cyberattack. Your IT teams should be familiar with responding and addressing these issues by communicating seamlessly to all your team members. Part of your preparations should include backing up your data regularly to avoid considerable losses. Doing so will allow you to recover a portion of your lost data with ease.
Since the world is moving towards a more digital landscape, most businesses are shifting their efforts to reinforcing their digital security. Online interactions are now the modern way of engaging with customers, regardless of the world’s condition post-COVID-19. This is why strengthening your IT structure’s security will be an excellent investment to maintain your business’s function and image as a reliable brand.
Allowing cybersecurity experts to monitor and assess your IT security’s durability will give you a better idea of your current system’s protection. FraudWatch International is a brand protection company that can give your IT systems the protection you need. Get in touch with our cyber intelligence analysts, and we’ll provide the necessary upgrades against different cyber threats.