Think about how many times a day you use digital technology in your business and personal lives. If the answer is multiple times a day, then there are some key things you need to consider keeping your data, information and devices secure.
The Daily Conundrum
Most businesspeople’s typical day starts with a foray into digital land as we check our businesses messages, social media for new clients, emails to ascertain the new priorities for today, our calendars to reorganise appointments and our internal systems to obtain client information on mobile technology.
Do not forget other people are also accessing your client data to manage their businesses.
Consider what is going out on social media networks that may impact your business and personal security. Be careful about posting business trips, leaving town on holidays and particularly the destination as well as locations that highlight your customers who can be poached.
Cyber Attackers Rely on Human Error
Each year in Australia there are thousands of cyber breaches to businesses. Hackers rely only partly on their security-penetration skills. The other thing they need are regular people making mistakes.
These attacks are becoming more advanced and sophisticated, training is mission-critical to minimise human error from the cyberattack equation. Don’t open suspicious emails, give out details on the phone, respond to the robo-marketer or used unsecured technology.
Basic security for your business
We all know not to click on suspicious emails, open that new friend request from an existing friend on Facebook and be sceptical of the new robo-marketer.
However, enhancing your businesses cybersecurity requires a concentrated effort. Today our websites have automatic reminders to clients about our privacy and terms and conditions of use but how then do we remind ourselves, employees and third-party partners of the importance of cybersecurity management?
Here is some of the advice we give our clients:
| Focus Area | Key Consideration | Management of Issues |
| e-Commerce | Online purchasing Website | Website Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy |
| Social Media | Facebook Tumbler Tik Tok Linked In Blogs | Social Media Policy – Customers Social Media Policy – Staff |
| Operational Systems | Customer relationship management Cloud Based Digital Marketing Networking Transactional | Perform reviews and quality assurance tests for functional and security verification Update your cyber security systems on a regular basis A Policy to change passwords regularly Incident Response Plan and reporting |
| Employee Management | Orientation Employment obligations Legal obligations Incident reporting | Employment Contracts with inbuilt digital security and social media clauses Training for employees to improve their digital security consciousness |
| Marketing | Emails Blog Posts News Items Event Notices | Brand and design guidelines that outline the business language Social Media Policy |
Security Know-How Can Advance You in Your Existing Job
While it may appear resource intensive to manage your businesses digital security, a security breach will cost you downtime, time out of your business and dollars to repair the issue. However, the most important consideration is brand reputation. Imagine if in your marketplace, your business was known to have breached the privacy of customers or employees.
If you would like assistance in becoming cyber-secure, please call our team on 02 8858 3211.