Cybersecurity
“Cybersecurity is the state of being protected against criminal or unauthorized use of electronic data, or the measures taken to achieve this.”
Oxford Dictionary of English
"In the last 12 months, 39% of UK businesses identified a cyber attack and this number may be higher! With the average estimated cost being £4,200, rising to £19,400 for medium and larger businesses, it has never been more important for you to consider cybersecurity in your business."
How we help
What is most important to your business? Are there processes can’t you do without? If you suddenly had no access to your important data, how would you cope? If you can’t use your IT systems, what happens next?
Cybersecurity is all about reducing risks; specifically the risks that have the greatest impacts on your ability to run your business. It is impossible to put controls in place for every risk in your business but it doesn’t take a lot to greatly reduce the risk from cyber threats to your business.
At Sussex Tech Support we help you identify the big risks to your business and suggest solutions proportional to those risks.
Common cybersecurity threats...
Malware & Viruses
Malware is a wide-ranging term encompassing any type of malicious software aimed at stealing data or harming computers and networks. Users often unwittingly install malware-infected programs including worms, ransomware, spyware and viruses.
Phishing
Using email, text messages and voicemail that appear to originate from people and places you trust, bad actors try to convince users to give up sensistive information including but not limited to company data, usernames, passwords, banking details, credit card numbers, etc.
Insider Threats
Unfortunately, people make mistakes either unintentionally or, more seriously for business owners, intentionally. Poorly trained employees often unwittingly open infected files and download malware from the internet by following links in emails resulting in security breachs. Disgruntled employees can do serious damage to computers, data and networks.
Social Engineering
We all like to think we're trusting individuals and that's exactly what hackers take advantage of. Bad actors pretend to be known brands, fellow workers or business aquaitances and trick people into doing what they want. Unfortunately your employees often think they're doing the right thing.
Ransomware
To most businesses, their computers and data are now critical to their success. Imagine a hacker managing to encrypt all your data so that you can't use it. Or worse, they threaten to publish sensitive customer information on the internet if you don't pay their demands, usually in some form of cryptocurrency. This is ransomware.
Being Ill Prepared
Business owners, by and large, aren't cybersecurity experts. That's just a fact of life. This leaves systems poorly configured, unpatched and unprotected. Thinking that "we're too small to be the focus of a hacker" is known as security through obsurity. Unfortunately is simply doesn't work. To hackers, these types of businesses are easy targets.
... and how we protect you?
There is no single solution for combatting cybersecurity threats. Each business is different; has different requirements, different data, different locations, different users and different appetites for the level of risk they are willing to take.
However, the approach is the same for everyone. Starting with a cybersecurity program, we bake security into your IT infrastructure. Users are trained on how to spot security issues, malware and phishing attacks and what to do about them.
The Five Crucial Elements of an Effective Cybersecurity Program
At Sussex Tech, we take implement the following five elements in combatting cyber threats:
1. Offence Informs Defence
We’re learning and acquiring knowledge from actual attacks that might compromise your systems and this leads to effective and practical defences. Your defences should be built using controls that have proven successful in preventing real-world attacks.
2. Prioritisation
By focusing on doing things that reduce risks, we help protect your business from dangerous cyber threats. These things should be feasible enough to be implemented in your computing environment.
3. Measurements & Metrics
Putting standard metrics in place helps everyone involved stay on the same page. Metrics are necessary to monitor the effectiveness of the security measures in place and inform us of what improvements can be made.
4. Continuous monitoring and mitigation
Proactively monitoring the effectiveness of the security measures we implement. By resolving issues as soon as possible, we ensure the integrity of your IT.
5. Automation
Automation helps us ensure your business is in compliance with the controls we implement. It provides a scalable and reliable way to fight off cyber threats. Automation increases efficiencies and saves your business time, money and wasted effort.