Every business, no matter how big or small, is at risk of experiencing a data breach. No matter what your industry is, you can experience a cyber attack that can put your financial security, business reputation, and client information at risk. Often, small businesses are more at risk since cyber criminals are looking for easy targets and many small businesses do not have a long-term strategy to minimize their risk. If you don’t have a strategy in place, you need to take the steps now to protect yourself in the future.
Establishing an Incident Response Plan to a Data Security Breach
The first step in your long-term strategy should be an incident response plan in the case of a data breach. Your plan should include an incident response team whose members each have defined roles and responsibilities. Start with the big picture and work through the details of who, what, when, and how. This plan should include a way to immediately neutralize the threat, assess the damage, back up the data, notify your customers, and re-secure your network. Conducting regular audits, drills, and exercises can help test your plan’s effectiveness.
Enhancing Security Measures, Monitoring, and Detection
To help prevent a data breach, you want to make sure that you are using best practices for data security. Conduct a self-assessment to help determine weaknesses in your defenses and then implement strong controls to strengthen them. Most data breaches are due to human error, so make sure that all employees with access to your data are trained and informed on how to keep all data safe.
Cybercriminals are always developing new strategies, so make sure that you are keeping up to date with all security patches and software updates. Anti-virus software can help detect intrusion as well as block it, and every business should have updated software running to help against potential threats. Real time monitoring and analyzing the logs can let you know what risks you are facing.
Data Backup and Recovery
Data breaches are not only the exposure of confidential data, but can destroy or limit access to data you need to keep your business running. Ransomware attacks can completely shut down a small business, and most businesses cannot afford to be offline for even a short period of time. The best thing you can include in your long-term plan is a robust data backup process. Ideally, your data should be stored in a minimum of two places, one of which is offline. As part of your strategy, regularly test your data recovery process to ensure that it is effective and secure.
How to Minimize the Financial Impact of a Data Breach
The financial impact of a data breach can be extensive, and minimizing that impact will take proactive planning. Partnering with external cybersecurity firms for guidance and support while you develop your long-term strategies can take what feels like an overwhelming task and make it far more manageable for your small business. With the help of CSR Readiness Pro Suite, we can provide a privacy self-assessment and data breach reporting solution for your small business. Knowing that most businesses do not have a long-term plan that will be able to handle a data breach, this program has both a risk assessment and a data breach reporting service. This is a proactive solution that will help you identify and assess security weak points, and then develop a process to improve your current data security practices. If you do face a data breach, CSR can assist you in the recovery process. In addition, partnering with a professional in cybersecurity can help keep you updated on the latest trends, risks, and technologies. As businesses develop plans to protect themselves, cyber criminals are developing new threats, so it’s important to stay one step ahead.
Proactive measures are the best way to protect your small business from the financial impact of a data breach. With a solid plan in place as part of your regular routine, you can protect your business and your clients. To learn more about how we can help, contact AccuShred today.