Top 3 Enterprise Cybersecurity Best Practices You Shouldn’t Ignore

In the age of data breaches and ransomware attacks, enterprises must take steps to actively respond to rapidly evolving cybersecurity threats. However, this is not something that’s going to be easy to achieve.

Even with the release of innovative tools to help combat cybercrime, businesses continue to be vulnerable to data breaches. In fact, the recent number of high-profile data breaches and ransomware attacks is indicative of this ever-present vulnerability in most organizations.

Protecting your data and infrastructure is all about persistence and hard work that’s built on a solid foundation. At the same time, security protocols also need to be highly adaptable to respond to the changing cybersecurity landscape.

So what are the top three enterprise cybersecurity best practices that businesses shouldn’t ignore? Let’s take a look.

1. Enhance Endpoint Protection Protocols

The modern workplace embraces both remote workers and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives. This makes it important to adopt robust security measures to protect your enterprise network.

BYOD programs dramatically increase the number of endpoints on your network and your exposure to risk. That’s why IT security teams need to take a layered approach to incorporate elements like data encryption and device authentication. It will also help if the security professionals are allowed to remotely wipe data from lost or stolen devices.

According to a recent research, only one-third of enterprises have full visibility of their IT environment. Furthermore, about 46% have partial visibility, and approximately 18% have zero visibility or reporting capabilities.

It’s quite shocking that businesses still operate with low visibility after the recent WannaCry and (Not)Petya ransomware attacks. If your company is still running with low visibility, it’s critical now more than ever to change the current state of your IT environment.

2. Build Processes Before Investing in Tools

Every organization, regardless of the size, must develop and implement a formal security governance program. This approach will help security teams ensure that strategies are well-aligned with business goals.

For example, in situations where security comes into direct conflict with your profit motives, following this approach can help bridge the gap (and transform security into an enabler). At this juncture, it will be critical to think through your strategy in detail and identify the best processes to carry out that strategy.

This is an important step as it will determine what tools need to be purchased to boost your overall enterprise security. When you don’t have a strategy, you risk wasting your resources on new tools that don’t fit with your business goals.

3. Conduct Employee Training Programs

No matter what security tools your business might have invested in, your staff will continue to be the weakest link. Even today, social engineering phishing scams are still highly effective and are often the entry point into your enterprise network.

Education is the only way to combat social engineering attacks. As a result, businesses need to regularly train employees to identify social engineering attacks and respond to them. The best way to do this is to conduct hands-on training that’s highly relatable and engaging.

This means that annual PowerPoint presentations won’t cut it. Instead, these sessions need to be highly interactive and meaningful to the audience. It can also be the perfect opportunity to educate employees about the importance of keeping software up to date on their personal devices like smartphones and tablets.

However, updating enterprise computers should never be left to the discretion of employees. In fact, the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities reaffirmed the importance of automating updates whenever and wherever it’s possible.

Bad actors are getting more advanced every day, and their techniques are changing all the time. To better protect your business, it’s also vital to foster a culture of security within the organization to make sure that everyone is alert.