Are Your Employees Your Biggest Cybersecurity Risk? The Top 4 Insider Threats Affecting Your Network

Are Your Employees Your Biggest Cybersecurity Risk? The Top 4 Insider Threats Affecting Your Network

 

Are your employees putting your network security at risk?

 

Even if your employees don’t intend on exposing your business to cybercriminals, they may still pose a threat.

 

With remote work gaining even more traction and decentralized workspaces becoming the new norm, businesses like yours are putting more focus on cybersecurity.

 

As a result, it’s important to have strategies in place to counter human errors and data breaches perpetrated by insiders.

 

Who’s An Insider & What Is An Insider Threat?

 

An insider is anyone who has access to your network. Insiders come in the form of employees, supply chain partners and company stakeholders.

 

When an insider exposes your network to cybercriminals, it’s considered an insider threat.

 

All employees, regardless of their designation or rank, can put your business in a vulnerable cybersecurity position.

 

Why Do Employees Pose a Risk to Businesses?

 

Did you know employees account for nearly a quarter of data breaches within a business?

 

According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2020, 23 percent of data breaches in an organization occurred because of human error.

 

As you can see, an untrained employee can compromise your business’ security in multiple ways. Keep reading to discover the top 4 common errors committed by employees.

 

The Top 4 Employee Threats To Your Network

 

1. Falling for Phishing Scams

 

Cybercriminals are using improved techniques, like spoofed emails and text messages, to succeed in their scams.

 

With the onset of COVID-19, hackers masqueraded as the World Health Organization (WHO) to trick people into clicking on malicious links and sharing sensitive information.

 

2. Poor Password Protection

 

If your employees reuse the same password or a set of passwords for multiple accounts (business and personal), this can be a dangerous habit that allows cybercriminals to crack your network security.

 

3. Misdelivery

 

Even slight carelessness can lead to an employee sending sensitive, business-critical information to a hacker. Such an act can cause lasting damage to your business.

 

4. Improper Patch Management

 

Often, employees can delay the deployment of a security patch sent to their device, which can make your IT security vulnerable.

 

The Bottom Line: Cybercriminals Are Getting Smarter, And You Need To Be Prepared

 

With cybercriminals upgrading their arsenal every day, you and your employees need to be ready to combat costly cyber threats.

 

You can transform your business’ biggest cybersecurity risk – your employees – into its prime defense against threats by developing a security culture that emphasizes adequate and regular security awareness training.

 

Making all this happen requires continued effort. With the right partner by your side, you can easily integrate security awareness training into your cybersecurity strategy.

 

Take the first step towards training and empowering your employees: contact the cybersecurity consultants at Third Power IT. Visit www.ThirdPowerIT.com to get started now.

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Article curated and used by permission.

 

Sources:

  1. McAfee Cloud Adoption & Risk Report
  2. Verizon 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report
  3. Security Magazine Verizon Data Breach Digest

The post Are Your Employees Your Biggest Cybersecurity Risk? The Top 4 Insider Threats Affecting Your Network appeared first on Third Power IT – Managed IT Services.

Courtesy of Miami IHIPAA Compliance IT Company - ThirdPowerIT.com

Supply Chain Security Tips: Hear from South Florida’s Top Cybersecurity Consultants

Did you know a supply chain cyber attack could cost you millions?

 

Even if your supply chain operates through a third party vendor, you will be responsible for compromised data. As a result, you could face hefty fines and messy lawsuits if you don’t maintain supply chain compliance.

 

The Importance of Supply Chain Compliance

 

That’s why it’s so important for your business’ cybersecurity posture to prioritize detection, evaluation and mitigation of supply chain risks.

 

If you want to avoid a costly cybersecurity mishap, we advise that you practice ongoing supply chain risk management.

 

Below you’ll find top tips for supply chain cybersecurity from Third Power IT, providing the best cybersecurity services in Miami.

 

Supply Chain Risk Management Best Practices

 

Prevention is key when you are managing data, systems, software and networks.

 

By proactively adopting risk management practices, you will help enhance your supply chain’s security. Keep reading to learn some of these practices right now.

 

  • Security Awareness Training: Educate employees on cybersecurity so they know the mistakes to avoid. Draft an effective security awareness training program, and implement it regularly to ensure all stakeholders are on the same page.

 

  • Data Classification: Identify data, segment it according to its worth and assign security to each type of data. This will help you know your data thoroughly, which makes it easier for you to secure it.

 

  • Access Control: Grant data access to select users. With robust authentication and authorization protocols in place, you can minimize the chances of sensitive data getting compromised.
  • Authentication verifies whether the user is who they claim to be
  • Authorization verifies whether a user has access to a particular type of data

 

  • Monitoring: Monitor data consistently so you can detect threats quickly and respond to attacks right away. Evaluate relevant data to recognize suspicious activity. Pre-define acceptable behavior on the monitoring system. If breached, the system will trigger an alert.

 

  • Endpoint Protection: Secure endpoints to protect the most vulnerable part of your supply chain. Cybercriminals are skilled at identifying weaknesses within your network. In most cases, it turns out to be an end-user device on your network or even devices on a third-party partner’s network.

 

  • Patch Management: Patch security gaps so your business isn’t exposed to cyber attacks. Whenever a new patch becomes available, update software immediately.

 

  • Routine Scanning: Enable a coordinated process to test, recognize, examine and reveal potential security threats. Automate these scans so they are conducted regularly without investing a lot of time and effort.

 

  • Network Segmentation: Segment your business’ network into smaller units so you can control movement of data from one segment to another. Automate this process to restrict suspicious entities from gaining access to vital information or data.

 

  • Managed Detection and Response: Deal with cyber threats strategically with MDR, an economically feasible service that helps you with in-depth threat detection and response. Threat hunting helps you with research and analysis of vulnerabilities.

 

Adopt Supply Chain Cybersecurity Best Practices Now

 

When it comes to supply chain security, the best practices mentioned above are just the start of how to prevent security incidents. Enlisting the help of an MSP can help you stay ahead of the curve.

 

The experts at Third Power IT have the experience necessary to build walls cybercriminals can’t break. Visit www.ThirdPowerIT.com to hear more about safeguarding your supply chain from looming cyberthreats now.

 

 

 

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Could Downtime Cost Your Business Thousands?

Are you aware of the costly consequences of downtime?

Downtime related to one cyber-attack could cost your business the equivalent of an employee’s salary for a whole year!

This 5-figure risk shouldn’t be taken lightly, especially when there are ways to prevent it from happening to you.

Before we dive into how you can prevent downtime from happening to your business, let’s quickly cover what downtime is and how it can affect you.

 

What Is Downtime In Business?

Downtime refers to the period of time when your company is offline. During this time, you don’t have access to your network. This prevents you and your employees from performing routine tasks online. As a result, your online business transactions are halted, your email is inaccessible, and you’re losing money by the minute.

No business owner wants this. Not only does it make you look unprofessional, but it also eats away at your productivity and your profits.

Keep reading to find out what causes downtime so you can prevent it from happening to you and your business.

 

What Causes Downtime?

Downtime occurs when a network connection is interrupted. That can mean a simple internet outage, or it can be more serious like a cyber attack.

One of the most common cyber threats is called a ransomware attack. If this happens to you, you risk losing a whole week of sales.

As you can see, this is a serious threat to your business. Luckily, it’s possible to minimize the risk of downtime and protect your business from cyber attacks.

Read on to discover how to minimize downtime so your business can operate as lean as possible.

 

How To Minimize Downtime

Keep your business up and running by preventing downtime from happening to you.

  • Secure your network
  • Enable data protection
  • Assess cyber risks regularly

Now you know the importance of protecting your business from downtime. But where do you start?

Luckily, you can hire experts to oversee your network management. These managed IT services will help you keep your business safe and secure.

Are you ready to get started?

 

Prevent Downtime: Invest In Network Management Now

Now that you know how much downtime can cost you, you’re most likely certain that you don’t want to experience it. But how do you keep that from happening?

 

If you don’t know how to keep the risks at bay, that’s what we’re here for!

Third Power IT provides the most trusted Managed IT Services in Miami and South Florida. If you are looking for a network management partner who understands your unique needs, you’re in the right place.

The experts at Third Power IT, South Florida’s best IT consultants, use a 3-prong approach to protect your network:

  1. Strategy
  2. Security
  3. Stability

To start designing your custom network management plan, contact us at 844-677-3687 or visit www.ThirdPowerIT.com right now.

 

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