Vigilance online can save a company’s business

Hanna Raitanen

Hanna Raitanen

Cybersecurity Awareness Business Manager

October 4, 2021 at 11:00

 

#CyberSecMonth 2021

#CyberSecMonth 2021

To promote the European Cybersecurity Month, Nixu offers a wide range of cybersecurity tips and learning solutions that organizations can utilize for free. Throughout October, there will be videos, insights, case studies, and practical tips to help organizations improve their cybersecurity posture. We’ve also scheduled some fantastic webinars with some of our most prestigious partners during the month so don’t forget to register your spot!

Join Nixu webinars:

  • October 19, 2021: Webinar on how to make cybersecurity awareness a proactive part of your organization. Sign up here >
  • October 26, 2021:  Webinar to get insight on ransomware attacks. Sign up here >

 

Learn more about Nixu's Cybersecurity Month >

Cybercrime and cyber-attacks are the new normal

Every 39 seconds an attack occurs online. Problems arise especially from phishing emails and ransomware. A significant portion, 94%, of malware gains access to people’s computers through email. At the same time, the share of serious ransomware has exploded, and more than 4,000 new cases worldwide can be reported on days of particularly high activity. The most common targets for ransomware attacks are the organizations that operate in the critical areas for the functioning of society such as in healthcare, finance, government and retail.

Cybercriminals have taken advantage of the opportunities offered by the remote work performed during the period of the pandemic in which employees may have been using insufficiently protected home office connections. As ransomware attacks can paralyze all functions of a company while causing significant financial damage, it is essential to ensure that sufficient cybersecurity measures are in place but also that employees receive appropriate cybersecurity training. In this way, they can identify suspicious emails and other cyber threats.

In an organization, cybersecurity belongs to everyone

Have you considered what would happen and how you would respond if a serious cyber incident took your organization by surprise? Would you even be able to continue your business operations without your business applications? Have you prepared for such a situation by organizing cybersecurity exercises or making business continuity plans?
Companies’ operational activities have become digital and increasingly dependent on various technologies. For this reason, cybersecurity is a crucial aspect of every company’s business operations. It is also vital to understand that as business becomes digital, so do risks. Consequently, operating environment awareness – the advance assessment of cyber threats and risks as well as cyber incident monitoring – should be a central part of cybersecurity and business continuity management.

At its best, business continuity assurance is a competitiveness factor that ensures operational continuity and recovery in the event of extensive security incidents in digital service platforms.

 

Prepared organizations more resilient against attacks

This is how to prepare for a cybersecurity incident:  

1. Know your operating environment and create a contingency plan

Analyze and systematically document your operating environment. Prioritize the key business services and processes. Describe their workflow and reliance on IT services, as well as details on databases, servers, and support and operational service organizations. Identify the primary tasks that must continue. Draw up business continuity plans for such tasks to ensure continuing operations in the event of an incident.

2. Arrange exercises

The training can be technical, focusing on restoring the operating environment, or include crisis exercises for management to practice decision-making, situational awareness, communication, and processes. Such exercises reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the organization and strengthen internal collaboration between units and people, not forgetting stakeholder communication with the authorities, customers, and the media, for example.

3. Put staff first

Educate your staff on cybersecurity awareness and make them the strongest link in your organization against cyber-attacks.

4. Learn from real incidents

Every real cyber incident provides an opportunity to accumulate expertise and simultaneously test an organization's preparedness. Use this knowledge to continuously improve your continuity plans.

Get your organization ready for a safer tomorrow and start the journey now

Cybersecurity is much more than just technologies. A competent cybersecurity partner supports organizations in the broad field of cybersecurity - including support of preparing for cyber incidents, where employee awareness training plays a crucial role. An organization can easily get started by organizing a cybersecurity exercise that reveals the most critical areas for development.