Cyber Security Plan
Secure your business from cyber attack today with our simple cyber security plan template
Cyber security is something that affects all business, regardless of size. If your business holds sensitive information, it is at risk of a cyber attack, which could cost you financially and leave your reputation damaged.
Many business owners are burying their heads in the sand when it comes to cyber security, believing it to be too complicated or not relevant to them and their business. As attacks increase, your business can no longer ignore the very real threat of a cyber attack.
Thankfully, securing your business from cyber attack is a relatively simple process. You’re already one step closer by reading this blog. The next step is to set aside some time to audit your cyber security needs and prepare a plan to mitigate the risks.
A clear plan and swift action will not only help prevent security breaches in the first place, but will also minimise the damage if they do occur.
Making a cyber security plan is a simple six-step process. Work through the following six steps in our template to ensure you have considered all the potential risks and have a watertight cyber security policy in place.
Determine the key stakeholders who will help develop your cyber security plan
Assess what sensitive information your business holds
Map your IT infrastructure to understand where and how sensitive information is stored
Assess the risks to your data
Consider what existing security measures you already have in place
Make a plan to mitigate any cyber security risks
This blog covers each of these areas in more detail. Please do get in touch if you have any questions.
1.Determine the key stakeholders who will help develop your cyber security plan
Cyber security is not only the responsibility of the IT department. It is an issue that has to be taken seriously by the whole organisation – every team member has a part to play in ensuring cyber attacks cannot slip through your security measures.
Allocate specific cyber security tasks to all team members to secure buy-in and ensure every department is aware of the risks and their role in mitigating them.
2.Assess what sensitive information your business holds
Before you can make a plan you have to understand what sensitive information your company holds that could be vulnerable to a cyber attack. Sensitive data is any information that would jeopardise an individual or organisation if it was unlawfully disclosed.
Sensitive data includes:
Personal information – such as names and addresses of customers and clients
Financial data – such as credit card details of customers and tax records of employees
Confidential business data – any information that would pose a risk to the business if released, such as future business plans, client lists or intellectual property
If you’re unsure about whether the personal data you hold might be confidential, check the GDPR guidelines on the Information Commissioner’s Office website for a comprehensive list.
3.Map your IT infrastructure to understand where and how sensitive information is stored
In order to protect all data held by your organisation, you need to know where it is stored and how it is used by the business and its employees.
Draw up a list of all hardware and software within your organisation’s scope. Remember to include all business-owned devices employees may be using, such as tablets and smartphones, the apps employees may have downloaded onto these devices, and any cloud-based software your business may be running through third parties.
In their Cyber Essentials: Requirements for IT infrastructure PDF, the National Cyber Security Centre define a business’s IT infrastructure scope as:
The recent accelerated rise in remote working, often without the requisite planning, has significantly increased most organisational networks and, therefore, their vulnerability to cyber attack.
It’s essential that you audit all the hardware and software that employees are using at home and ensure things such as secure passwords and multifactor authentication are in place and being updated regularly.
4.Assess the risks to your data
Once you know the scope of your cyber security plan, you are in a position to look at each component in turn to assess what areas are vulnerable to security breach.
When trying to determine the risks your business faces, you must consider who has access to sensitive data and what the risks for each specific data set are.
Risks to consider include:
Accidental damage to hardware
Natural disasters, such as fire or flooding
Theft as a result of a break-in at your premises
Human error, for example accidental deletion of key files
Employee misconduct, such as the theft of customer data
Malware attack
5.Consider what existing security measures you already have in place
Most businesses already have basic cyber security measures in place, such as antivirus software and passwords.
Now is the time to really dig into these measures and ensure they are sufficient. For example:
Is your business data encrypted and being backed up regularly?
Have you vetted any cloud-based software you use to ensure their security policies are rigorous enough?
Is access to sensitive data restricted to only those employees who need it? And is this access updated regularly?
What is your company password policy? Are employees asked to change it regularly, or helped to use a strong, random password with the aid of a password manager?
If you’re already using a firewall, are your network’s parameters safe?
Are employees switching off their computers at the end of every shift to enable essential software updates to be installed?
Are there controls over what external apps employees can download to their business-owned devices?
6.Make a plan to mitigate any cyber security risks
Now you have a better understanding of the cyber security threats your business might face, you can put plans into action to mitigate those risks. As mentioned earlier, it is critical that the whole organisation understand and take cyber security threats seriously. Employers should host regular training sessions for their staff to help them understand their role in cyber security and what an attack might look like, to prevent them from falling victim.
Policies and best-practice guides should be developed to help staff understand the bigger picture and ensure there is a clear plan in place in the event that a breach does occur. This comprehensive plan, which should include how to report a breach and to whom, will help speed up your business’s response to an attack and lessen the damage done.
Once you have a plan in place, we can help you attain a Cyber Essentials Plus certification. Cyber Essentials is a government-backed scheme to help safeguard your business from some of the most common security risks and provides you and your clients with a level of assurance that your systems are protected. Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help.
If you’d like to understand more and learn about our MELCaaS Software that will implement the Cybersecurity Plan for you, please click here: MELCaaS – Cybersecurity as a Service