How to Recover From Security Setbacks and Gear up for Recession?
Recessions are unavoidable for any business, and smaller companies are often impacted the most. Though building resiliency into the business is the first step to surviving a recession, enhancing overall security and privacy posture is often overlooked.
Cyber security is not often treated as urgent, and InfoSec teams can take months to triage a breach or outage. Sometimes, neither security nor an organization’s leadership may have an integrated view of the impact of these events on the brand and reputation.
This is due to prevalent unplanned gaps in security programs during economic recessions. Positioning yourself in advance for the worst-case scenarios before a downturn could help you through the tough times.
Cyber attacks can obscure the business’ focus and overall performance during a recession. Security experts have weighed in on many aspects of security and data privacy that could help brands recover from setbacks and gear up for the next recession.
Let’s look at some aspects that can help brands overcome security setbacks and navigate their success even in challenging times.
Why is a Robust Cybersecurity Posture Now Crucial more than ever Before?
Securing your crucial business information has been a vital aspect of doing business in the past few decades.
However, with the increasing awareness among customers regarding using their personal information and privacy, it is more important than ever to ensure that your brand has a robust cybersecurity posture.
Data privacy and security regulations, including GDPR and CCPA, are becoming more stringent. Hence brands must focus on security to protect themselves from legal risks and become vulnerable to data breaches.
Also, cyber-attacks are becoming more sophisticated and frequent, so companies need to take more proactive steps to protect themselves against these threats.
Since we’ve understood the need for a robust security mechanism for today’s businesses, let’s look at how companies can recover from security setbacks and eventually prepare for unpredictable times.
#1. Leverage Automation
At a time when security threats are more prevalent and sophisticated than ever, it’s essential to reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks that may be vulnerable to human error.
An excellent place to start automating your security and privacy program is with monotonous and redundant tasks like software patching and updating. Automation can also help you achieve compliance with industry regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.
When you automate these tasks, you can more easily scale up your efforts when necessary and free up time for more valuable work.
#2. Incorporating Multi-Factor Authentication
Unpredictable times make it more important than ever to have robust authentication security. With multi-factor authentication, you can minimize the chances of account takeover and reduce the impact of security setbacks on your business.
Multi-factor authentication is a method of verifying an individual’s identity requiring more than one step to confirm their identity. It’s often used with password-only authentication, which is less secure than multi-factor authentication because passwords are easy to guess and steal.
With multi-factor authentication, you may be required to use something you know (such as a password or PIN) and something you have (such as a smartphone or physical keycard).
This adds a layer of protection against hackers who might try to steal your data by hacking into your email and then resetting your password using that information.
An excellent example of multi-factor authentication is the process used by banks when customers log into their accounts online: they must enter their username and password and answer questions about themselves that only they would know (such as what city they were born in).
This means that even if someone manages to get hold of their username and password, they have to go through another stringent authentication process.
#3. Fostering Information Security Culture
Fostering an information security culture within your organization. This means being well aware of all the cyber threats, including phishing and social engineering attacks. It also means having a robust security and privacy program and well-trained employees who are aware of potential cyber risks and can take action before they occur.
With this foundation in place, you’ll be able to build the essential business resiliency your business needs — in any industry or market climate — so that when something goes wrong, you’re ready to respond quickly with a plan that works best for you.
When your business can effectively manage these risks, you’ll be better prepared for anything that comes your way!
In Conclusion
Disruptive events can upset your business, no matter what it does. Unless you do something about it, the next recession and its uncertainties could affect your venture.
When you know the risks and have a security team that can act accordingly, you are better prepared to tackle any obstacles. Security has changed — be an early adopter in planning for the future.
With growing risks to accounts, organizations have to find ways to overcome these challenges and get back on their feet to recover quickly.
