Why Cyber Security Needs to be on Your 2022 Roadmap

Over the last 12-18 months cyber attacks have risen to record levels, as reported by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) in their Annual Report 2021. This poses a huge risk to all businesses, large and small, and means security protection must be top of the list for your organisation’s roadmap in 2022. Boardrooms across the country are now placing cyber security at the forefront of discussions and are ready to invest in protection for their businesses. The time to act is now.  

Patchy cyber security just won’t cut it anymore. In the same way that many of us will be promising ourselves a renewed focus on a healthy lifestyle in the new year, you should be making the health of your organisation’s security a priority for 2022. Why wouldn’t you do the same for your business health? And this is a New Year’s resolution you can actually keep. 

Cyber security has never been more important than now due to this widely reported increase in attacks. However, businesses are also dealing with more personal data than ever before. Data breaches are one of the largest threats to organisations’ security globally, costing businesses upwards of millions in fines and expenses. A breach can cost your business its reputation, with no guarantee of recovery. Protecting sensitive data is crucial. Make sure your organisation has systems and processes in place to secure customer data as a priority. 

There’s an assumption that smaller businesses are less likely to be attacked. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. You should never think “we are too small to be attacked” or “we are doing enough”, as it’s not a ‘could’, it’s a ‘when’ when it comes to cyber attacks, your organisation must have advanced security measures in place. The total cost of a data breach last year was £3.1 million. This is far above the cost of putting security solutions in place.  

If you’re a start-up or small-medium business, you need to start looking at fundamental cyber security implementations as a minimum. One of the most cost effective entry points to take action against cyber attacks is gaining a Cyber Essentials Plus certification. This can protect your business against 80% of threats. If you advance this protection with regular vulnerability assessments, you can stay ahead of any vulnerabilities before they become something much worse. 

Stepping up protection to the next level, organisations should be conducting regular penetration testing. A penetration test will mimic a real world attack and let you know exactly what could happen if you get hacked. You’re able to identify security gaps and most importantly, the necessary fixes you need to keep hackers at bay.  

We also recommend that businesses look to implement the ISO 27001 standard. ISO 27001 draws coordination between all sections of an organisation and enhances management responsibility, conducts internal audits and undertakes corrective and preventive actions. For many organisations, achieving ISO 27001 certification is a regulatory or contractual obligation, especially those who tender for NHS and government contracts. However certification does provide customers of any business the confidence that they take the protection of their data seriously.  

If you really want to ensure complete security protection of your business 24/7/365 then the best solution for advanced threat detection and response is a managed Security Operations Centre (SOC). Hackers don’t sleep – and neither should your security. For many businesses 24/7/365 monitoring isn’t possible with in-house resources. Even a brand as well-known and widespread as UK retailer SPAR is susceptible to damaging attacks. With the UK’s skills shortage at an all time high, you must look to managed security service providers who can provide decades of experience to protect your business effectively at a fraction of the cost of building in-house tools and teams. If you lose access to your systems you could lose access to lots of revenue. Can your business afford to close while you deal with an attack?  

So 2022 brings you the chance of a new year and a fresh start. Actively start looking to put procedures in place which will protect and secure your organisation from any potential breaches in 2022 and beyond. If you need any advice on where to start and what your security roadmap should look like, please get in contact. One of our experts will be happy to guide you.  

If you’re under attack or have suffered a breach, we’re here to help – 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Call or email us for help.