‍Cybersecurity breaches have been increasing, and by 2023, it is predicted to reach 15.4 million. Although modern technology has made it simple for businesses to update their security procedures, sophisticated technologies are increasingly being used by hostile hackers. This indicates that businesses must adopt proactive measures in addition to stringent cybersecurity regulations to lower cybersecurity risks.

A strong cybersecurity risk management strategy is essential to assisting organizations in lowering their exposure to cyber threats. Business leaders must continually update, refine and test their cybersecurity defense strategies to combat risks such as ransomware and business email compromise (BEC).

Organizations cannot afford to rely on chance to protect their data. The financial impact might be enormous, leading to lost revenue, operational disruption, and consumer data theft. Additionally, data breaches harm your reputation, which could sometimes force you out of business. How then can you lower cybersecurity risk for your firm given everything that is at stake?

What is risk mitigation in cybersecurity?

An organization uses risk mitigation as a technique to prepare for and decrease the impact of potential hazards. Similar to risk reduction, risk mitigation entails taking steps to decrease the negative effects of risks and disasters on business continuity (BC). Cyberattacks, weather-related disasters, and other potential sources of real or imagined damage are examples of threats that could endanger a business. One aspect of risk management is risk mitigation, and each organization will apply it differently.

How to mitigate cyber security risk from data breaches?

Here are some strategies to mitigate cyber security risks from data breaches.

1. Create backups and encrypt your data

Ensure that every piece of sensitive data is encrypted. Normal-text file formats just make it simple for hackers to access your data. Data encryption, on the other hand, limits access to data to those who have the encryption key. Additionally, it makes sure that even if unauthorized individuals access the data, they are unable to read it. Some data encryption tools even alert you when someone tries to change or tamper with the data.

Additionally, you need to regularly back up your important information. Data loss can occur occasionally as a result of cybersecurity breaches.  If this happens and you don’t have a trustworthy and secure backup, it could lead to operational disruptions and a significant loss for your company. The 3-2-1 rule is one of the best data backup techniques. You should store at least three copies of your data using this technique. 2 of them ought to be kept on different media, and one ought to be kept in an offsite location.

Read: Top Cyber Security Problems and Solutions Every Business Should Know

2. Organize Regular Employee Training

Phishing emails sent to your employees are one of the typical methods malicious hackers get access to your database. According to statistics, about 3.4 billion phishing emails are actually sent each year worldwide. The link in these emails is actually a harmful virus that allows hackers to access user information, including login credentials.

The fact that phishing emails appear real makes them difficult to spot. For instance, a hacker may send an email posing as an organization head and requesting personal information. The employee can end up disclosing this information if they weren’t given the required training. Because of this, it’s very important to conduct cybersecurity awareness training. Inform your employees of the main forms of cybersecurity attacks and the effective defenses against them.

Double-checking email addresses before responding to them and links before clicking on them should also be emphasized. The company policy should be highlighter about sharing sensitive information, including on social media, should also be highlighted.

3. Keep Your Systems and Software Updated

Your cyber security and digital safety are significantly impacted by software and system updates. This is because they don’t just bring new features; they also fix bugs and help in patching exploitable security flaws and vulnerabilities.

Malicious hackers create code that they employ to take advantage of the flaws. The majority of the time, this code comes bundled as malware that can harm your entire system. Therefore, to automatically handle all updates and maintain information security, use a patch management system.

4. Use Strong Passwords

An interesting statistic is that weak passwords are to blame for almost 80% of organizational data breaches. Hackers don’t need much to get access to your systems. They simply need a tiny gap, and they’ll take full advantage of it.

Because password-cracking technology has advanced, simple passwords are no longer sufficient. To deter hacking in your organization, you should instead implement multi-factor authentication techniques and employ complicated passwords. Additionally, you should discourage password sharing among staff members so that the rest of the desktops are safe, even if one is hacked.

When it comes to passwords, some of the security risk mitigation strategies you should include;

• There should be at least 8 characters in every password.
• They ought to be made of alphanumeric characters.
• They shouldn’t include any private data.
• They ought to be original and never before utilized.
• Ideally, they shouldn’t contain any words that are spelled correctly.

Keep in mind to store your password securely and in an encrypted manner.

5. Install Firewalls

Hackers constantly develop new techniques for gaining access to data, and cyber security threats are evolving. Installing firewalls will protect your networks from cyber attacks. A trustworthy system will successfully defend you from brute attacks or stop security mishaps from causing irreparable harm.

Additionally, firewalls keep an eye on network traffic to spot any unusual activity that can jeopardise the security of your data. They also support data privacy and stop sophisticated spyware from accessing your computers.

When selecting the right firewall for your business, exercise extreme caution. Choose a system that enables complete security control and network and application visibility. It should be equipped with efficient security infrastructure, as well as protection and prevention capabilities.

Also Read: How a Mobile App can Transform your Business Digitally in 2023

Conclusion

To sum up, the above points, let’s delve a little more into how can small businesses mitigate the risk of costly cybersecurity breaches. Many individuals appear to believe that only extremely large organizations, such as banks or enormous IT companies, actually need cybersecurity (or can afford). Cyber-attacks, nevertheless, affect small firms as well. In fact, two-thirds of all cyber-attacks are focused at small businesses”, according to a cited data.  Even worse, the figure only takes those attacks that get reported- it cannot account for attacks that go undiscovered or unreported. 

It is true that if you want all of the most cutting-edge and expensive proprietary security technology and solutions, going all-out with your cybersecurity can be prohibitively expensive. However, protecting your business from an attack doesn’t have to be prohibitively expensive.

There shouldn’t be any new point that to be added to explain to mitigate cybersecurity risks, the above points are quite enough and explains above how can you keep your company’s network and systems safe and mitigate cybersecurity risks without breaking the bank.

Safeguard Your Organization From Cybersecurity Risks Today Statistics of data breaches increase with each passing year.  Proactive action is the greatest approach to ensure that your organization is secure. This comprises;

• Data backups and encrypting sensitive information.
• Updating all software and security systems.
• Conducting regular cybersecurity training for employees.
• Using strong and challenging passwords,
• Setting up firewalls.
• Cutting back on your attack surfaces
• Evaluating your vendors
• Putting in place a killswitch.
• establishing sound rules and methods for managing cyber risk.
• Protecting your physical premises.

You are not required to be included in the statistics. By protecting your sensitive data, Sjain Ventures can assist in lowering your cyber risk. Visit our website today Sjain Ventures to scale up your cybersecurity defenses.