Leave cybersecurity gaps open, and business-ruining threats might just fall through the cracks.
Try as we might, no cybersecurity program is airtight. But knowing where your business’s protective shield falls short – and how to fill those shortcomings in with the right solutions – can help you get pretty close.
These are the top 10 most common cybersecurity gaps in your infrastructure and what the experts at EMPIST recommend doing to solve them.
The Problem: You Let Just Anyone Connect to the Network
Wi-Fi and cloud computing are modern marvels that let your employees connect to your network from anywhere, giving them the flexibility they need to be extra-efficient. The safety of your business’s Wi-Fi and cloud solutions are also common cybersecurity gaps, often exploited by bad actors to get at your business’s sensitive info. Allowing unknown devices and unknown users access to your network in any way not only violates the principles of zero-trust – it puts your organization at immediate risk.
The Fix: Using a VPN, requiring company portals, setting up a second Wi-Fi network for guests in shared office spaces, and regularly monitoring your network for changes can lessen the impacts of this issue. Additionally, performing regular vulnerability scans will help, too.
The Problem: You Share Passwords
Keeping your private information, well, private, requires that the credentials used to access that information remains private, too.
Yes, even from your boss.
You’d be shocked at how often unsecured password sharing occurs in today’s corporate environment. In fact, it’s among the most prevalent cybersecurity gaps we see. Unsecured password sharing can look like: keeping a spreadsheet of your office’s logins, emailing a coworker your credentials, writing your passwords on a piece of paper on your desk, and basically, anything else that leaves your info unencrypted.
The Fix: Employing a password manager like LastPass will not only allow your organization to store passwords properly, but it will also improve the quality of those passwords by automating the login process. More complicated passwords, fewer shared passwords; It’s a win-win.
The Problem: You Don’t Use MFA
Relying on password protection alone to secure your accounts isn’t going to cut it. And yet, many professionals choose to forgo multi-factor authentication in favor of a faster login process.
If we’re not the first to tell you, then please let us be the loudest to say the time saved by opting out of MFA is not worth the risk you incur.
The Fix: Enabling MFA anywhere possible – including on your employees’ personal accounts – is the best way to reinsure your accounts.
The Problem: You Rely on Antivirus Alone
There’s a time and a place for legacy software, but entrusting your organization’s security to outdated, reactive solutions like antivirus alone will not be enough to keep your data safe.
We say “reactive” because most antivirus software only works to protect your business’s network if it comes across a known bad actor or piece of malware. The software then reacts to that known signature and works to remove it. However, if your software is only targeting what is known, it is missing some of the biggest threats to your organization around.
The Fix: Proactive security solutions like Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) and its spiritual successor, Managed Detection & Response take your security on the offensive, hunting out potential cybersecurity gaps for you.
The Problem: Your Employees Don’t Know What’s Out There
The number one risk to your business today isn’t ransomware or hacking groups – it’s your people. And, more specifically, it’s what your people don’t know.
Your business can have all the programmatic protections in the world in place, but so long as your employees are uninformed, the cybersecurity gap will remain. Social engineering tactics like phishing are still on the rise and can easily decimate your organization.
The Fix: Enrolling in regular, mandatory security awareness training is the only way to ensure that your team is ready to handle the manipulative messaging of bad actors.
The Problem: Your Tech is Out-of-Date
While we do recommend that you use your technology to its fullest, there comes a time when outdated machines, software, and even technology services can become a significant cybersecurity gap.
Outdated tech is often targeted by hackers as a potential ingress into your business’s network.
The Fix: Whether it be that 2011 Mac or that machine running on, like, Windows 10, regularly updating your technology for patch fixes, maintenance, and functionality is essential to keeping bad actors at bay.
The Problem: You Don’t Have a Recovery Plan
Try as we might to plug all of the holes in your cybersecurity ship, without a lifeboat, you won’t be saved from sinking.
Neglecting to create a recovery plan for your business is an oft-overlooked cybersecurity gap. Without it, even the smallest outage, attack, or even natural disaster could devastate your organization, hindering your ability to bounce back and succeed.
The Fix: Work with your Managed Service Provider to create a backup & recovery plan that works for your structure, size, and industry, and then stick to it.
The Problem: You Aren’t Proactive Enough
Traditional IT providers operate on a break/fix cycle, meaning when a given piece of technology fails, the experts swoop in to solve the problem. While this may seem good enough, the truth is that waiting for something to happen before finding solutions leaves your organization vulnerable.
In 2023, we’re urging businesses to break up with break/fix IT providers.
The Fix: Work with an expert-led Managed Service Provider to take a proactive approach to technology. This approach will ensure that you aren’t just using your tech but harnessing it in order to reach your goals.
The Problem: Your Support Is Weak
The traditional 9-5, in-office lifestyle is all but dead and gone. Why would you still be using traditional support in the new, non-traditional approach to work?
Hybrid models, remote work, and off-hours require comprehensive tech services that often cannot be met by a small in-house team of IT professionals. From missing skills to regular downtime, settling for second-rate support will keep your business down, too.
The Fix: 24/7/365 support from a team you can trust will ensure that your organization always has access to the technology it needs to stay safe.
The Problem: You Aren’t Paying Attention
Business owners and other leaders such as yourself do not have the time to worry about their technology ecosystem. Wearing multiple hats by trying to do it all yourself usually means that your safety protocols fall by the wayside, leaving your data exposed.
The Fix: Offload the stress – and the costs – of maintaining a strong cybersecurity protocol to a support staff that can pay attention for you so that you can focus on bigger things.
Let Us Mind the Gaps, Call EMPIST
The real fix to cybersecurity gaps? Working with EMPIST.
For over 20 years, our experts have committed themselves to helping businesses succeed through the transformative power of technology. By building a strong cybersecurity protocol for your organization, we can help you to grow to heights you never imagined.
For information on our IT managed services, cybersecurity solutions, digital initiatives, and more, head to our home page. To start filling the gaps in your cybersecurity right now, get in touch by contacting team EMPIST online today.