Today’s world is more digitally connected than ever before. As more people work and connect, bad actors have responded by developing sophisticated methods for gaining access to resources and stealing data, sabotaging businesses, or extorting money. Every year the number of attacks increases, and adversaries develop new methods of evading detection.
Cybersecurity enables productivity and innovation by giving people the confidence to work and socialize online. The right solutions and processes allow businesses and governments to take advantage of technology to improve how they communicate and deliver services without increasing the risk of attack.
Here are four practices listed down by Microsoft Security that businesses can follow for enhanced cybersecurity:
- Adopt a Zero Trust security strategy
With more organizations adopting hybrid work models that give employees the flexibility to work from anywhere, a new security model is needed that protects people, devices, apps, and data no matter where they’re located. A Zero Trust framework starts with the principle that you can no longer trust an access request, even if it comes from inside the network. To mitigate your risk, assume you’ve been breached and explicitly verify all access requests. Employ least privilege access to give people access only to the resources they need and nothing more.
- Conduct regular cybersecurity training
Cybersecurity is not just the responsibility of security professionals. Today, people use work and personal devices interchangeably, and many cyberattacks start with a phishing email directed at an employee. Even large, well-resourced companies are falling prey to social engineering campaigns. Confronting cybercriminals requires that everyone works together to make the online world safer. Teams must be taught how to safeguard their personal devices and recognize and stop attacks with regular training. The effectiveness of such programs can be monitored with phishing simulations.
- Institute cybersecurity processes
To reduce the risk of cyberattacks, processes need to be developed that help prevent, detect, and respond to an attack. Regularly patching software and hardware to reduce vulnerabilities and providing clear guidelines to teams will help them know what steps to take if they are attacked.
- Invest in comprehensive solutions
Technology solutions that help address security issues improve every year. Many cybersecurity solutions use AI and automation to detect and stop attacks automatically without human intervention. Other technology helps make sense of what’s going on in the environment with analytics and insights. It’s important to get a holistic view into the security environment and eliminate gaps in coverage with comprehensive cybersecurity solutions that safeguard identities, endpoints, apps, and clouds.
