When was the last time that a cybersecurity audit was conducted in your organization? I’m not referring to a simple antivirus scan, I mean an in-depth analysis of your system’s security infrastructure.
If you don’t recall ever having a security audit, then this is something your business should be considering.
Our network security solutions can help you determine whether your business and technology operations are vulnerable to a variety of cybersecurity threats.
The following are some key indicators that will tell you if your business needs an IT audit:
Outdated technology
The use of older technologies such as old software, old hardware, outdated policies, practices, and services can leave you at risk for emerging threats.
Assuming that your company is “too small” for a cybersecurity audit
The notion that only large-scale companies require cybersecurity audits is false. Consider this: The average cost of a data breach for small businesses was as much as 2.63 million US dollars, according to the Cost of a Data Breach Report (2021). At the end of the day, hackers only care about receiving a ransom payment. Thus, the size of the company they affect is irrelevant to them.
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What is a cybersecurity audit?
Cybersecurity audits are used to determine compliance and uncover vulnerabilities and other issue areas in digital infrastructures. An audit not only keeps a company ahead of cyber crooks but also keeps them out of legal trouble. An audit consists of an auditor, usually a third-party vendor, examining the configuration of your software and maybe running tests to evaluate your network and discover any holes. A network security audit can help you identify viable solutions for improving security policies, controls, and risk mitigation. In other words, having a second set of eyes could mean the difference between being safe and becoming a victim of the next hack.
Is my business at risk of cyber-attacks?
The truth is, any business is vulnerable to cyber threats, regardless of its size.
2020 saw an unprecedented rise in the scale and frequency of attacks of various types and common social engineering scams, mostly because cyber hackers knew that most workers in many parts of the world had moved from their offices to their homes. While this was good for employees who could stay close to their loved ones, maintain their jobs, and be safe from the virus, this was a total nightmare in terms of cybersecurity. The reasons are:
There are no firewalls at home
Most home networks don’t count on the security that firewalls offer, because they don’t have one in place. On the other hand, most internal networks inside office buildings do have them. Thus, blocking most attempts of intrusion or viruses trying to access the network.
Systems are not updated
Most applications nowadays, both on the cloud and on-premises, release new updates constantly. These updates sometimes are new features being introduced to these applications. Other times they are important security patches intended to keep internal networks secure from external threats, such as ransomware attacks.
Poor security habits
One repeated pattern that we see in most of our clients when they first contact us is that their employees usually reuse their passwords across different accounts. Once a hacker figures out one of your passwords, this person has access to any account that it is linked to. According to the Verizon 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report, credentials are the primary means by which a bad actor breaks into an organization, with 61 percent of breaches attributed to compromised credentials.
Lack of cybersecurity training
Most business owners underestimate the power that cybersecurity training has. Workers are trained in healthy security practices like avoiding reusing passwords and adopting multi-factor authentication. But one of the most valuable resources available in cybersecurity training is how to detect common social engineering scams.
Now many businesses are returning to their offices, and they must ensure that all internal systems comply with at least minimum-security requirements. That’s why cybersecurity audits are so important to detect all areas of improvement inside a network.
How we can help
At Wingman Solutions, we offer you a team of experts, capable of auditing your internal systems and providing you with the best guidance to detect common social engineering scam patterns, including how to avoid holiday scams. We will not only guide you through the audit process but also make sure you implement all the required improvements to your systems. Get in touch to start working on the cybersecurity audit that will give you the peace of mind that you need.
