Last Updated: October 2023
As a business leader, you know the importance of protecting your organization with strong cybersecurity services, but your attention is pulled in many different directions. You have employees to manage, deadlines to meet, and goals to reach.
But a strong defense is necessary before you can work on other areas of your business. Without it, your business is left vulnerable to cybercriminals who know how to exploit the smallest gaps in your security.
Building up your defense is critically important, but choosing the best cybersecurity services can be an overwhelming task. With so many different options, it’s difficult to know what’s a necessity and what’s an extra that your organization doesn’t need.
You should be receiving standard cybersecurity protections through your regular IT services, and it’s important to know what those services are and what they do. At Nortec, we make sure you know exactly what you need and why you need it.
Why Cybersecurity Fails
The internet makes business operations easier, but it also makes them more vulnerable to attack. No organization should function without cybersecurity measures in place to protect its data.
However, some small- and mid-sized-business owners believe that their size means they won’t be a target. In reality, the opposite is true: cybercriminals target smaller businesses because they think they don’t have the same resources as large corporations, making them easier targets.
An attack may start small, but it can have an outsized effect on your business. A single mistake can affect your business for months. Find out what happened when Nortec’s chief operating officer noticed a suspicious email from an attorney Nortec had worked with, and how the team secured her email account before any significant damage was done.
How To Protect Your Business With Cybersecurity Services
No matter how small or large your business is, it’s important to have a sophisticated cybersecurity model. For full protection, you need more than an anti-virus program and a firewall – one or two solutions off the shelf aren’t enough.
Be confident that the managed IT services provider you trust your business with is the right provider for you. Identify an IT company that has the cybersecurity expertise to manage your IT. Your IT staff should have the training, qualifications, and in some fields (such as those working with the Department of Defense), the certification to prove they can handle all your cybersecurity needs.
Discover the 42 Ways To Enhance Your Cybersecurity Fast
The 5 Pillars of Cybersecurity
There is always a risk of a cyberattack, but careful risk management can reduce the possibility of cybercriminals actually getting their hands on your data. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has identified 5 key pillars of cybersecurity that are essential to a strong defense. Without these 5 pillars, your cybersecurity is likely to fail.
Pillar 1: Identify
The first pillar of the NIST cybersecurity framework focuses on how, as an organization, you can learn to identify cybersecurity problems. Together you should develop an understanding of how to manage cybersecurity risk to different parts of your operations. That includes your capabilities, systems, assets, and perhaps most importantly, your data.
Identify assets to protect.
This is the first step in asset management. Your top-priority asset could be a database containing sensitive customer information. Or, it could be a website with payment details.
Identify risks.
While you may have an idea of which assets are critical to your business success, you want a cybersecurity risk assessment. While you may think you understand your risks, it takes an objective,
trained cybersecurity expert to identify exactly which aspects of your network security are not as strong as they need to be.
Pillar 2: Protect
SMB leaders and managed IT services providers tend to focus most of their time and resources on the second pillar: protect. Protecting your business is an ongoing task involving several different initiatives.
Manage user access.
First, managing access to assets and information is a key part of protecting your business. With identity and access management products, you can offer role-based access controls to your administrators, allowing them to regulate individual user network access.
In today’s work environment, many employees work remotely and depend on the cloud. With a geographically dispersed workforce, it’s important to make sure that network access is as secure as possible. Your cloud consulting services provider can help you manage network access.
Safeguard your data.
Protecting sensitive data is critical to a business. An expert cybersecurity services provider will combine multiple solutions, from security software to employee education, to strengthen the protection of your data.
Mobile device management (MDM) also allows you to protect your remote workforce, whether your employees work from home full-time or occasionally use their own mobile devices to check their work email. MDM solutions help protect your network no matter where your employees are.
Conducting regular backups, protecting all devices, managing device vulnerabilities, and training users on how to safely utilize their devices are essential ongoing tasks for protecting your business.
Contact Nortec for Your Cybersecurity Risk Assessment
Pillar 3: Detect
After your organization begins identifying your most important assets and protecting your network, it’s time to work on detecting threats before they become problems. Your organization may rely on several different third-party service providers where detection tests need to be performed, and your cybersecurity services provider will run detection tests for every system.
Detect threats efficiently.
Or you may utilize one platform, such as Microsoft Azure, which provides solutions to a variety of tech needs. With Azure support services from Nortec, your detection needs are automatically rolled into your support. At the same time, we can help you leverage the Microsoft modern workplace to your business’ best advantage. Your need for security and productivity are managed together.
Work with your cybersecurity services provider to consistently test and update your detection processes. Certified ethical hackers can help you locate vulnerabilities, fine-tune your detection processes, discover anomalies and events, and identify the best tools to protect you.
Pillar 4: Respond
How you respond to threats to your network is key to your cybersecurity plan. A fast, comprehensive response could stop a cyberattack in its tracks. With our cybersecurity services, Nortec can help you establish a response plan that effectively protects your business.
Develop your plan and test it regularly with the help of your cybersecurity services provider. Update your response plans and coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to make sure you have the most effective response plans in place should an attack happen.
Pillar 5: Recover
Implementing even the most effective cybersecurity defense is not a 100% guarantee against a successful cyberattack. If cybercriminals manage to breach your network, it’s important that you immediately work to restore your capabilities or services that were affected.
- Start by communicating with all stakeholders.
- Update your recovery plans in response to the attack.
- Next, focus on managing your public relations and reputation.
With our advanced cybersecurity expertise, Nortec Security can help you recover from a successful cyberattack and plan for the future.
Knowing what’s involved in a successful cybersecurity approach is the first step in building your defense. Our experts at Nortec can help you learn about what solution will meet your business’ needs, goals, and budget.
