Cybersecurity is one of the most prevalent issues businesses encounter today. In the face of growing cyber threats, many companies are beginning to take this issue more seriously. Even if you’ve already established a clear cybersecurity strategy, you may want to revisit it.
Cybercrime today is not the same as it was just a few years ago, in both scale and severity. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), cybercrime caused $3.5 billion in losses in 2019, $2 billion more than three years prior. In response to these mounting threats, you should revisit your cybersecurity strategy regularly.
Here are five reasons why regular audits can improve your business security:
1. Defend Against New Threats
Cyberthreats both increase and change in form. As security professionals develop new tools to fight against old hacking methods, cybercriminals come up with new approaches of their own. Not all cybersecurity strategies will remain effective over time, so you should revisit yours regularly.
A security audit can reveal if you’re vulnerable to any newer cyberthreats. You can then work to address these shortcomings before a criminal takes advantage of them.
2. Find Unknown Weak Points
Changing cyberattacks isn’t the only threat you have to consider. There may have been weak points in your defenses from the start, and you’re not aware of them. If you go back and review your strategy, you may find these vulnerabilities.
As you continue to work with technology, you’ll probably learn things that you didn’t know when you implemented your system. You can improve your business cybersecurity by reevaluating your security procedures, looking for weak points that you know about now. Without these regular audits, you may never know about vulnerabilities in your system.
3. Update Security Standard Compliance
Many organizations, especially governmental ones, require a certain level of security from their partners and contractors. If you hope to work with or for these organizations, you’ll need to revisit your security standards. The government updates their standards regularly, so you should too.
Take the Department of Defense (DoD), for example, which is replacing its old standards with the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC). You’ll need to be certified by September to bid for DoD requests for proposals. Without updated security measures, you won’t be able to obtain the most lucrative contracts.
4. Prevent Human Errors
One of the most considerable threats you face in cybersecurity is human error. While malicious insiders are not out of the question, most insider-caused data breaches are just mistakes. A 2018 study found that 62% of insider threat incidents resulted from employee negligence.
If you revisit your cybersecurity strategy regularly, this gives you the perfect chance to remind everyone about your policies. These frequent updates will help employees remember the best security practices, lowering the risk of mistakes. Without them, it’s easy for your workers to forget your security principles and make risky lapses in judgment.
5. Test Software
If nothing else, revising your security protocols will show you how your software is working. Any bugs, glitches or shortcomings in your software are potential risks, so you should know about them. Frequent audits can reveal any of these in your company’s software so you can work to address them.
When you reevaluate your system, you can check the efficacy of your security programs and other, more mundane software. If email spam folders aren’t working, it could be a risk. These tests will improve business cybersecurity and help you become more efficient altogether.
Effective Cybersecurity Is Dynamic
Cybersecurity is never a one-time solution. The threat landscape is continually shifting, so if your system isn’t also dynamic, it’s at risk. If you change with these threats, however, you can stay safe.
Revisiting your cybersecurity policy is essential to maintaining effective security. Without regular audits, you may be at risk without even knowing it.
