Cyber Resilience Is More Important Than Ever

With increasing reliance on digital technology, cyber threats have unfortunately become a reality that small businesses cannot afford to ignore. While significant improvements in digital technology have allowed for more streamlined, efficient business models, it has also made room for the sophistication of cyber-attacks, making them harder to detect. This means it has become crucial for business owners to build strong cyber resilience to protect their business and clients. But what exactly is cyber resilience and why is it so important?

What is Cyber Resilience

It’s important not to confuse cyber resilience with cyber security. While cyber security is extremely important, it is only one component of what forms strong cyber security for a business. Cyber resilience on the other hand, is the overall ability of a business to continue running, even during the event of a cyber-attack. It is not just about protecting your business from cyber-attacks but also improving the ability to recover quickly from the significant disruptions these attacks can cause. In addition to implementing cyber security defences, it also involves incident response plans along with ongoing risk management planning.

Why does Cyber Resilience Matter?

Recent statistics show that not only have the number of cybercrime incidents in Australia increased, but the average cost per incident has too. The 2022/23 ASD Cyber Threat Report confirms that nearly 94,000 reports were made, which is a massive 23% increase from the previous year. Additionally, the average cost per incident for small business increased by 14% to $46,000. These costs could have significant impact on an organisation’s revenue, impacting the overall success. The good news is that according to the Australian Community Attitudes to Privacy Survey 2023 only 12% of consumers said there was nothing that could be done to appease them should a data breach occur. Therefore, most Australians are willing to remain loyal if they can see businesses doing everything in their power to prevent customers suffering harm and reducing the risk of subsequent breaches occurring. This highlights the need to businesses to have strong cyber resilience measures in place.

5 Ways to Enhance Cyber Resilience

1. Implementing strong security measures

Firewalls can monitor and control incoming and outgoing network traffic. Anti-virus software can be implemented to detect and block malware threats while intrusion detection systems can help to detect and respond to threats in real-time.

2. Regularly update

Those pesky update notifications on PCs can be annoying, we know. But did you know that they can help ensure your digital technology remains as secure as possible. Ensuring that all software, including operating systems and applications, is updated with the latest security patches helps close identified vulnerabilities. Additionally, ensuring automatic updates are enabled is essential to ensure current security features are in place.

3. Employee training

Provide regular training for your employees on how to identify phishing emails, recognise potential security threats, how to communicate with customers enquiring about breaches, and password and device management. Regular simulated phishing attacks are a great way to test and improve upon the identification and response procedure to phishing attempts.

4. Implement an incident response plan

Where possible, establish a dedicated team responsible for managing and responding to cyber incidents. This doesn’t necessarily mean recruiting a whole new team, it could be as simple as assessing your current staff members’ skills and incorporating cyber incident roles into their job descriptions. It’s also important to create detailed response procedures that are easy for all employees to understand. They should include separate procedures to specific incident types, including data breaches, ransomware attacks, and compromised systems. Ensure that these procedures are regularly tested and updated as needed.

5. Data Backup

Automating regular backups of all critical data and ensuring they are stored securely can assist in the efficient restoration of data in the event of a cyber incident. Storing backups of data in offsite locations or utilising cloud-based services can help protect against data loss from cyber incidents and physical damage.

Still confused by the concept of Cyber Resilience or need help in ensuring your business has the correct procedures in place for maximum resilience? Join us in Armadale for our upcoming workshop “Cyber Security Essentials for Small Business.” Register here.

This workshop is presented as part of the Digital Solutions Program in partnership with Business Armadale.